Dr. Reddy's Laboratories has been granted final approval for the Company's Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Citalopram Hydromide tablets 10 mg, 20 mg and 40 mg. The Company will commence the commercial marketing of this product immediately, the company said in a statement.

Recently, Novo Nordisk had decided to terminate further clinical development of DRL's partial PPAR (Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor) gamma agonist Balaglitazone (DRF 2593), an oral treatment for patients with type 2 diabetes. Dr Reddy's licensed this molecule to Novo Nordisk in 1997.

During the second quarter ended September 2004, DRL suffered a heavy setback as its standalone net profit declined by 37.3 per cent to Rs 39.93 crore from Rs 104.51 crore in the corresponding period of last year.

The profitability affected mainly due to lower than expected sales and heavy investments in R&D activity. The company's sales declined by 4.5 per cent to Rs 451.97 crore from Rs 473.21 crore.