Dr Reddy’s Laboratories announced that Dr Dennis Langer has joined the company as president, North American operations. Dr Langer will be responsible for the management of the company’s North American operations and will be based at the company’s offices in New Jersey.

Commenting on the announcement, GV Prasad, CEO, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, said, "I am excited about the appointment of Dennis as the president of our North American operations. He brings to the organization a unique combination of experience in areas of innovation R&D, commercial operations and strategy & business development, which will further enhance our ability to consolidate on our success in the US and transition into a specialty based pharmaceutical company."

Cameron Reid, who currently heads the company’s North American operations has expressed his desire to pursue personal goals and accordingly will step down from his current position on the completion of his contract on March 31, 2004. Over the last decade, Cameron has played a significant role in building the company’s US businesses and shaping the company's regulated market strategy.

Dr Langer joins Dr Reddy’s from GlaxoSmithkline, where he held various management positions since 1994. Most recently, he served as senior vice president, Project and Portfolio Management, Research and Development. In this position, he was responsible for worldwide project and portfolio management activities for all research and development assets, for all therapeutic areas.

In addition, he was also leading the alliance and joint venture management function. Prior to that, Dr Langer held a variety of management positions involving increasingly responsibility in the areas of global product development strategy, healthcare services and business strategy with GlaxoSmithkline. He has also served as the CEO of Neose Pharmaceuticals and held various positions at GD Searle, Abbott and Eli Lilly. Dr Langer was also chief resident in psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine and held clinical fellowships in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and George Washington University School of Medicine.

A native of New York, Dr Langer has a JD (cum laude) from Harvard Law School, an MD from Georgetown University School of Medicine, and a BA in biology from Columbia University. He has to his credit several publications in peer reviewed medical journals. He currently serves on the board of Biotechnology Industry Organization, Transkaryotic Therapies, Inc, Alliance for Aging Research and Boards of Visitors at Columbia University and Georgetown University School of Medicine. Dr Langer is a clinical professor, Department of Psychiatry, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC.