Dr. Reddy’s receives positive CHMP opinion from European Medicines Agency for its proposed Rituximab biosimilar

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. (BSE: 500124, NSE: DRREDDY, NYSE: RDY, NSEIFSC: DRREDDY; along with its subsidiaries together referred to as “Dr. Reddy’s”), today announced that the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has adopted a positive opinion recommending the launch of its proposed biosimilar Rituximab candidate DRL_RI (ITUXREDI®) in European markets.

Dr. Reddy’s had previously received the EU GMP certificate for its Rituximab drug substance and drug product manufacturing facility located in Hyderabad, India. As part of the established approval process, the CHMP positive opinion will now be reviewed by the European Commission (EC), following which a decision will be made on the grant of marketing authorisation in the European Union (EU) member countries, and the European Economic Area (EEA) member states of Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein. A Marketing Authorisation Application (MAA) for submission to the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) will be made separately in keeping with the reliance route under the International Recognition Procedure (IRP).

DRL_RI is being developed as a biosimilar of MabThera® (Rituximab), a cluster of differentiation 20 (CD20) directed cytolytic antibody. ITUXREDI® / DRL_RI (rituximab) is a proposed biosimilar to reference medicinal product MabThera® and the intended indications are the same as those currently approved for MabThera®: Non–Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NHL); Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (CLL); Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA); Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis (GPA) (Wegener’s Granulomatosis) and Microscopic Polyangiitis (MPA); Pemphigus Vulgaris (PV).

About Dr. Reddy’s biosimilars programme:

Dr. Reddy’s biosimilars business is part of our key strategic initiatives expected to drive both near-term and long-term growth. Over the last 25 years, our Biologics team has developed into a fully integrated organisation with robust capabilities in the development, manufacture and commercialisation of a range of biosimilar products in oncology and immunology. We have a portfolio of commercial products in India, with some products marketed in more than 25 other countries. In addition, we have several products in the pipeline in oncology and auto-immune diseases in various stages of development for global launches across regulated as well as emerging markets. We are also ramping up manufacturing capacity to support our global expansion plans. In July 2023, our proposed rituximab biosimilar application was accepted for review by the USFDA, EMA and MHRA. Earlier this year, we launched Versavo® (bevacizumab) in the UK, making it our first biosimilar product to be approved and launched in that country.