Dr Reddy's launches improved hypertension drug

Drug placed outside Union government's price control regime

Hyderabad-based pharma major Dr Reddy's has launched a much effective anti-hypertension drug Optidoz in a single pill combination of three individual drugs in the Indian market.

The differentiated pill is a composition of amlodipine 2.5 mg, telmisartan 20 mg and hydrochlorothiazide 6.25 mg with optimal (half of standard) dose of individual drugs, which is unique for hypertension treatment. The drug is placed outside the Union government's price control regime, said Alok Sonig, senior vice president and India Business Head of Dr Reddy's.

The Optidoz platform would create new opportunities for developing new drug compositions for cardiovascular and diabetic therapies. Currently, the cardiovascular vertical contributes around Rs 300 crore to its sales. “With the launch of Optidoz, the peak revenue addition would be around Rs 100 crore in the next 5-10 years,” Sonig said.

The company is evaluating regulatory processes and addressable market for the launch of Optidoz internationally. In the current fiscal, it has so far come up with 10-12 launches in India and hopes to close the fiscal with 15-17 new launches.