Expect two more novel drugs by 2020: Zydus Cadila

NEW DELHI: Buoyed by approval for its patented diabetes drug Lipaglyn, Zydus Cadila on Sunday said it expects at least two molecules out of the 20 currently under discovery research programmes to become successful by 2020.


The firm, which has set out on a path to become a research-driven pharmaceutical company by 2020, is currently working in the areas of metabolic disorders, oncology and inflammatory disorders.

"By 2020 we expect at least two of our 20 discovery research programmes, which are at various stages of clinical development, to become a reality," Zydus Cadila Chairman and Managing Director Pankaj R Patel told PTI.

When asked in which therapeutic areas could the new drugs be, he said: "It is difficult to predict, but we are currently running the discovery programmes in the areas of metabolic disorders, oncology and inflammatory disorders."

Elaborating the company's vision, Patel said: "The goal is to become a research-driven pharmaceutical company by 2020. We spend over 7 per cent of our turnover on research and will continue to do so."

When asked how the company planned to raise funds to finance its drug discovery programmes, Patel said: "It will be through our internal resources."

In a major milestone, Cadila Healthcare, a part of the Zydus Group, had said it had received regulatory approval to market its diabetes drug, Lipaglyn, in India last week.

The company expects the drug to be a "blockbuster" and clock over $ 1 billion sales a year when it will be sold globally, Patel said, adding it would be launched in India in the third quarter of this fiscal.

He said the company is currently in the process of filing applications in developed markets like US and Europe, after which it will tie up with other companies for marketing the drug.

The company has spent $ 250 million in developing Lipaglyn which took nearly 12 years to fructify. It will be spending another $ 150-200 million to launch the drug in overseas markets in next 3-5 years period, Patel said.

In India, he said, the company expect Lipaglyn, indicated for treating 'diabetic dyslipidemeia', to clock an annual turnover of Rs 100 crore in the next 3-4 years.

Diabetic dyslipidemeia is a condition where a person is diabetic and has elevated levels of total cholesterol.

"It has always been our dream to take a molecule right from concept stage to its launch. Now we have realised this dream," Patel said.

With the success, he said the company is on track towards its target of becoming a $ 3 billion entity by 2015 from the current $ 1.4 billion.