Kallam Anji Reddy, founder of the country’s second largest drug maker Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd (DRL) and the face of the pharma industry, passed away here on Friday following prolonged illness. He was 73.
Reddy was unwell for the past few months from a lung disorder and was admitted to a private hospital. He is survived by his wife K Samrajyam, son K Satish Reddy and daughter G Anuradha.
A pioneer of Indian bulk drugs industry, Reddy was not just an entrepreneur with an uncanny business acumen but also a visionary to embark on new drugs discovery-- the first Indian pharma company to do so -- and make them affordable to common man.
His persistent efforts to discover new molecules to treat diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, inflammation and infections may come to an end with his death.
Reddy quit IDPL following his entrepreneurial instincts to set up pharma firms Uniloids Ltd in 1976 and Standard Organics Ltd, which later culminated in the formation of DRL in 1984. What started with an investment of `25 lakh as a generics firm has now evolved into a billion-dollar company with a turnover of more than `7,000 crore and giving stiff competition to multi-nationals like Pfizer and GSK.