The founder and chairman of the country's second largest drug maker Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL), Dr Anji Reddy died yesterday evening at Hyderabad’s Apollo Hospital, where he was being treated for liver cancer. He was 72. He is survived by a son and a daughter.

Born in 1940 at Tadepalli in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, Dr Redddy had obtained his Ph.D in Chemical Engineering from National Chemical Laboratory, Pune. Soon after his studies, he served in the state-owned Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Ltd (IDPL). Later in 1984, he quit IDPL and started DRL with an initial capital outlay of Rs. 25 lakh. In 2011-12, DRL posted a turnover of Rs.9,597 crore and a net profit of Rs.1,426 crore.

Under his visionary leadership, the company went on to become the second largest drug maker in the country in a short span of time.

Started as a manufacturer of active pharmaceutical ingredients, DRL soon introduced branded formulations. The much needed break for the fledgling company got in 1987 when it secured approval from the US Food and Drugs Administration (US FDA) to make Ibuprofen. This opened a world of opportunities for Reddy. Satish Reddy, his son is currently managing director and chief operating officer of the company, while son-in-law G V Prasad is the vice chairman and the chief executive officer.