Top-level changes in Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Satish Reddy appointed chairman
Winds of change are blowing across Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL) as far as the top management is concerned, with the board of directors at the pharma major deciding to have separate roles for the chairman and the managing director and CEO.
DRL has appointed Satish Reddy as chairman of the board — he had previously held the position of vice-chairman, managing director & COO. While GV Prasad will continue as the CEO and provide leadership to the company in an executive role, he has also been appointed as the co-chairman and MD.
While the sudden senior level changes have raised many eyebrows in the industry, the company, said the move was aimed at separating the roles of chairman and the CEO and managing director. “We want to reassess and reorganise the corporate leadership roles and stabilise the corporate governance in the company,” Prasad, co-chairman, said.
Prasad was appointed as the chairman of the board in addition to his existing role as CEO in April last year following the death of the founder and chairman Kallam Anji Reddy.
Both Prasad and Satish are related to Anji Reddy. While Prasad is his son-in-law, Satish is son of Anji Reddy.
“The role of chairman assumes significance as it drives corporate governance across the board besides government relations and is the custodian of the corporate brand,” Prasad said, adding that the senior level management changes will drive further growth and will develop dealership across the firm.
Incidentally, Satish is actively involved in various industry associations such as the Indian Pharmaceutical Association (IPA) and leads the corporate social responsibility efforts at DRL.
“In his new role, he can contribute significantly to shaping the direction and course of action on these fronts, in addition to being a custodian of the corporate brand and driving governance processes and agenda of the board,” Prasad said.
Satish also focuses on child rights, sustainable livelihoods and safe drinking water and is a leader in providing academic support and daily meals to more than 1.3 million children in government schools across India.
“It is an honour to be nominated as chairman of the board,” said Satish. “Prasad and I have worked together to diligently execute the exemplary vision set by our founder Anji Reddy over the past two decades to emerge as a leading pharmaceutical company. By reorganising our roles, we should be able to give further focus to distinct activities while simultaneously providing space for internal growth to our talented senior management team,” Satish said.
DRL also announced that Abhijit Mukherjee, president (global generics), has been appointed as chief operating officer. He will be responsible for both global generics and pharmaceutical services and active ingredients (PSAI) businesses. “I look forward to working closely with Mukherjee and the team in the drive towards science and innovation based leadership at DRL,” Prasad added.
As IPA president, Satish said the pharma industry is looking for positive changes from the new government. “There has to be clarity in the pricing policy, big challenges lies ahead in the clinical trial segment which are shifting to other countries besides delayed product approval process,” he said.
The IPA is a consortium of large Indian drug-makers that was formed in November 1999 to represent research-based national pharmaceutical companies. It now has 19 companies under its fold.
Satish plays a key role in shaping government policy on crucial issues concerning the pharmaceutical sector and the economy. He served as a member of the Drugs Technical Advisory Board of India, the highest policy making body under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act in India (2005 and 2011). He was also the chairman of the Andhra Pradesh Chapter of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) in the 2003-2004 fiscal.
