Leading pharmaceutical company Dr. Reddy's Laboratories announced its financial results for the third quarter ended December 31, 08. The company posted net profit of
192.40-crore in the reporting period as compared to loss of Rs 121.30 crore in the same period last year.

Its revenue stood at Rs 1,840 crore in Q3 as compared to Rs 1,231 crore in the third quarter of financial year 2007-08.

Two multinational companies are developing memory-enhancing pill. AstraZeneca in collaboration with Targacept, an American company, is trying to develop milder form of a medicine which is originally used to treat Alzheimer's disease. Epix Pharmaceuticals, also from the US is also working on a memory enhancing pill.

An open offer was made by Daiichi Sankyo to Zenotech Laboratories' shareholders at Rs 113.62 per share. This comes after it revised its earlier open offer price of Rs 160 per share.

Jayaram Chigrupati, MD, Zenotech Laboratories reacted to the development, "The agreement on open offer price was reached in July 2008. The agreed price was reached after shareholders filed a case post the Ranbaxy-Daiichi deal. The suit was withdrawn after Daiichi agreed to open offer price of Rs 160 per share."

Ranbaxy Laboratories CEO Malvinder Singh said that due to an import ban by the US authorities, his firm may shift some generic drug production from India to the US.

"We will transfer (production of) some products from India to America. Also, we are looking at making some acquisitions of manufacturing assets," said Mr Singh, at a media reception held by Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo.

Country’s largest pharmaceutical company, Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited, announced that it has acquired manufacturing facilities that have the approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Speaking on this, Malvinder Singh, CEO Ranbaxy Laboratories said, “We will transfer (production of) some products from India to America. Also, we are looking at making some acquisitions of manufacturing assets.”

He added that apart from US, his company is also keeping its options open to buy FDA-approved facilities from other countries.

Aurobindo Pharma Ltd has received US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) approval to manufacture and market generic versions of epilepsy drug levetiracetam in variable strengths.

Aurobindo will manufacture and market the tablet in dosages of 250 milligram, 500 mg, 750 mg and 1,000 mg and an oral solution in 100 mg per millilitre dose.

Levetiracetam is an anticonvulsant drug used for the treatment of epilepsy. It is S- enantiomer of etiracetam, structurally similar to the prototypical nootropic drug piracetam.