Dr Reddy's Laboratories (DRL) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Croatian-based PLIVA, a global pharmaceuticals company, to develop and market 11 oncology products in Europe.

Under the agreement, Dr Reddy's will develop the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) and prepare the drug master file (DMF), while PLIVA will be responsible for developing the formulations and preparing the dossier for filing marketing authorization (MA) applications. By the same contract, PLIVA has been granted exclusive marketing rights for 11 central and East European (CEE) countries, and semi-exclusive rights for the rest of CEE countries and Western Europe and non-exclusive rights for the US.

Through this alliance, Dr Reddy's will penetrate the CEE market and hence fortify its commercial presence in the region. In a market where there is still limited availability of the requisite API, this deal will give PLIVA the access it requires to develop and expand its range of essential oncology products and by marketing and selling these products in CEE, West European and US markets, PLIVA can facilitate its growth in the oncology segment worldwide. According to IMS Health figures, the worldwide oncology market was worth around US$ 25 billion in 2002.

With more than 80 years of experience in the pharmaceuticals arena, PLIVA has become a specialty pharmaceutical company that has transformed itself into an international player with operations across Europe, US and CEE. The company aims to be research driven and fully integrated global pharmaceutical company. It claims to be the largest CEE headquartered company by sales. The blockbuster antibiotic Azithromycin has been one of its prominent discoveries.