Dr Reddy's Laboratories (RDY) Risk Factors

Our performance and the quality and growth of our business are necessarily dependent on the health of the overall Indian economy. The Indian economy has grown significantly over the past few years. Any future slowdown in the Indian economy could harm us, our customers and other contractual counterparties. In addition, the Indian economy is in a state of transition. The share of the services sector of the Indian economy is rising while that of the industrial, manufacturing and agricultural sector is declining. It is difficult to gauge the impact of these fundamental economic changes on our business.

If flooding, droughts, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions or other natural disasters were to directly damage, destroy or disrupt our manufacturing facilities, it could disrupt our operations, delay new production and shipments of existing inventory or result in costly repairs, replacements or other costs, all of which would negatively impact our business. A significant portion of our manufacturing facilities are situated around Hyderabad and Vishakhapatnam, India, regions that have experienced earthquakes, floods and droughts in the past. Even if we take precautions to provide back-up support in the event of such a natural disaster, the disaster may nonetheless affect our facilities, harming production and ultimately our business. And, even if our manufacturing facilities are not directly damaged, a large natural disaster may result in disruptions in distribution channels or supply chains. The impact of such occurrences depends on the specific geographic circumstances but could be significant.

A significant portion of our revenues are in currencies other than the Indian rupee, especially in the U.S. dollar, the Euro, the Russian rouble, and the U.K. pound sterling, while a significant portion of our costs are in Indian rupees. As a result, if the value of the Indian rupee appreciates relative to these other currencies, our revenues measured in Indian rupees may decrease and our financial performance may be adversely impacted. Further, we may also be exposed to credit risks in some of the emerging markets from our customers on account of adverse economic conditions. We use derivative financial instruments to manage interest rate fluctuations and some of our net exposure to currency exchange rate fluctuations in certain key foreign currencies. A significant portion of our borrowing costs are linked to U.S. dollar London Interbank Offered Rate ("LIBOR"), and hence any increase in U.S. dollar LIBOR adversely impacts our financial performance. In July 2017, the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates LIBOR, announced that it intends to phase out LIBOR by the end of 2021. It is unclear if LIBOR will cease to exist or if new methods of calculating LIBOR will be established such that it continues to exist. As such, depending on the future of LIBOR, a comparable or successor reference rate as determined under our credit agreements may apply, or we may need to renegotiate certain terms of our credit agreements to replace U.S. dollar LIBOR with a new standard. In either case, our interest rates and interest expense could increase, which could adversely affect our financial condition, operating results and cash flows.

Our full time directors and members of their immediate families, in the aggregate, beneficially owned 26.74% of our issued shares as of March 31, 2021. As a result, these people, acting in concert, are likely to have the ability to exercise significant control over most matters requiring approval by our shareholders, including the election and removal of directors and significant corporate transactions. This significant control by these directors and their family members could delay, defer or prevent a change in control, impede a merger, consolidation, takeover or other business combination involving us, or discourage a potential acquirer from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us. As a result, the value of the equity shares and/or ADSs of our minority shareholders may be adversely affected or our minority shareholders might be deprived of a potential opportunity to sell their equity shares and/or ADSs at a premium.

Our quarterly revenues, operating results and cash flows have fluctuated significantly in the past and may fluctuate substantially from quarter to quarter in the future. Such fluctuations result from a variety of factors, including but not limited to changes in demand for our products, timing of regulatory approvals and of launches of new products by us and our competitors (particularly where we obtain the 180-day period of market exclusivity in the United States provided under the Hatch-Waxman Act of 1984), timing of our retailers' promotional programs and successful development and commercialization of limited competition and complex products. Such fluctuations may result in volatility in the price of our equity shares and our ADSs. In such an event, the trading price of our shares and ADSs may be adversely affected.

Our business model focuses on building a pipeline in various therapies targeted at both emerging markets and more regulated markets. We must invest increasingly significant resources to develop complex generics, differentiated products and biosimilars, both through our own efforts and through collaborations, in-licensing and acquisition of products from or with third parties. In our Proprietary Products segment, our business model focuses on building a pipeline in the therapeutic areas of neurology and dermatology. In our biologic segment, our business model focuses on building a pipeline in various therapies targeted at both emerging markets and highly regulated markets. The development of complex generics, differentiated products and biosimilars involves processes and expertise significantly more complex, which increases the risks of failure. During each stage, we may encounter obstacles that delay the development process and increase expenses, leading to significant risks that we will not achieve our goals and may be forced to abandon a potential product in which we have invested substantial amounts of time and money. These obstacles may include: preclinical failures; difficulty enrolling patients in clinical trials; delays in completing formulation and other work needed to support an application for registration; adverse reactions or other safety concerns arising during clinical testing; insufficient clinical trial data to support the safety or efficacy of the product candidate; and failure to obtain, or delays in obtaining, the required regulatory approvals for the product candidate or the facilities in which it is manufactured. Because of the amount of capital required to be invested in augmenting our differentiated products and biosimilar pipeline, in some cases we are reliant on partnerships and joint ventures with third parties, and consequently face the risk that some of these third parties may fail to perform their obligations, or fail to reach the levels of success that we are relying on to meet our revenue and profit goals.

There has been substantial patent related litigation in the pharmaceutical industry concerning the manufacture, use and sale of various products. In the normal course of business, we are regularly subject to lawsuits and the ultimate outcome of litigation could adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and cash flow. Regardless of regulatory approval, lawsuits are periodically commenced against us with respect to alleged patent infringements by us, such suits often being triggered by our filing of an application for governmental approval, such as an ANDA or NDA. The expense of any such litigation and the resulting disruption to our business, whether or not we are successful, could harm our business. The uncertainties inherent in patent litigation make it difficult for us to predict the outcome of any such litigation. California recently passed the Preserving Access to Affordable Drugs (AB-824), legislation that could adversely impact our ability to settle patent litigations. The law, which took effect on January 1, 2020, creates a presumption that a patent settlement has anti-competitive effects, and thus violates California's state antitrust law, if it provides for the generic pharmaceutical company to receive "anything of value" from the branded pharmaceutical company and if the generic pharmaceutical company agrees to delay the launch of a generic product for any period of time. The law specifically identifies exclusive licenses and agreements by the branded pharmaceutical company "not to launch an authorized generic version" of its branded product as things of value that would trigger the presumption. Such presumption may make it more difficult to negotiate settlement agreements which are subject to this new law. If we are unsuccessful in defending ourselves against these suits, we could be subject to injunctions preventing us from selling our products, resulting in a decrease in revenues, or to damages, which may be substantial. An injunction or substantial damages resulting from these suits could adversely affect our consolidated financial position, results of operations or liquidity. Further, we have been involved in various litigations involving challenges to the validity or enforceability of registered patents and therefore settling such patent litigations has been and is likely to continue to be an important part of our business. Parties to patent litigation settlement agreements in the United States, including us, are required by law to file them with the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice for review. The FTC has publicly stated that, in its view, some of the brand-generic settlement agreements violate the antitrust laws and has brought actions against some brand and generic companies that have entered into such agreements. Accordingly, such settlement agreements may expose us to antitrust violation claims.

We and our business associates are increasingly relying on social media and mobile tools as a means of communications. To the extent that we seek as a company to use these tools as a means to communicate about our products or about the diseases our products are intended to treat, there are significant uncertainties as to either the rules that apply to such communications, or as to the interpretations that health authorities will apply to the rules that exist. As a result, despite our efforts to comply with applicable rules, there is a significant risk that our use of social media and mobile tools for such purposes may cause us to nonetheless be found in violation of them. In addition, because of the universal availability of social media tools, our associates or third parties may make use of them in ways that may not be sanctioned by us, and that may give rise to liability, or that could lead to the loss of trade secrets or other intellectual property, or could lead to the public exposure of personal information (including sensitive personal information) of our employees, clinical trial patients, customers and others. Such uses of social media could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Social media posts could also contain information purported to be disclosed by us that is false or otherwise damaging, which could have a material adverse effect on our reputation and the price of our equity shares and ADSs.

Our products face intense competition from products commercialized or under development by competitors in all of our business segments based in India, the United States and other markets. Many of our competitors have greater financial resources and marketing capabilities than we do. Our competitors may succeed in developing technologies and products that are more effective, more popular or cheaper than any we may develop or license, thus rendering our technologies and products obsolete or uncompetitive, which would harm our business and financial results. It is also possible that alternate therapies or substitutable products that we developed for the same indication would lead to cannibalization of revenues from our products. Further, in recent years the goals established under the Generic Drug User Fee Act, and increased funding of the U.S. FDA's Office of Generic Drugs, have led to more and faster generic approvals, and consequently increased competition. The U.S. FDA has established new steps to enhance competition, promote access and lower drug prices and is approving record-breaking numbers of generic applications. While these improvements are expected to benefit our generic product pipeline, they will also benefit competitors that seek to launch products in established generic markets where we currently offer products. The U.S. FDA's efforts to increase the pace at which generics enter the market has also resulted in a trend of many first time generic manufacturers entering the market, which is further increasing competition in the market. Our generics business is also facing increasing competition from brand-name manufacturers who do not face any significant regulatory approvals or barriers to enter into the generics market. These brand name manufacturers have devised numerous strategies for example, sell generic versions of their products directly or by forming strategic alliances with our competitor generic pharmaceutical companies or by granting them rights to sell "authorized generics". Moreover, brand companies continually seek new ways to delay the introduction of generic products and decrease the impact of generic competition, such as filing new patents on drugs whose original patent protection is about to expire, developing patented controlled-release products, change the dosage form or dosing regimen of the brand product prior to generic introduction while the generic applicant seeks to amends its ANDA dossier to match the changes in the brand product, changing product claims and product labeling, or developing and marketing as over-the-counter products those branded products that are about to face generic competition, or pricing the branded product at a discount equivalent to generic pricing. Our competitors, which include major multinational corporations, are consolidating, and the strength of the combined companies could affect our competitive position in all of our business areas. Furthermore, if one of our competitors or their customers acquires any of our customers or suppliers, we may lose business from the customer or lose a supplier of a critical raw material. In our generics business, to the extent that we succeed in being the first to market a generic version of a significant product, and particularly if we obtain the 180-day period of market exclusivity in the United States provided under the Hatch-Waxman Act of 1984, as amended, our sales and profit can be substantially increased in the period following the introduction of such product and prior to a competitor's introduction of the equivalent product or the launch of an authorized generic. Prices of generic drugs typically decline, often dramatically, especially as additional generic pharmaceutical companies receive approvals and enter the market for a given product. Consequently, our ability to sustain our sales and profitability of any product over time is dependent on both the number of new competitors for such product and the timing of their approvals. In our Proprietary Products business, many of our competitors have greater experience than we do in clinical testing, human clinical trials, obtaining regulatory approvals and commercialization. They may be able to respond more quickly to new or emerging market preferences or to devote greater resources to the development of new products and/or technologies than we can. As a result, any products and/or innovations that we develop may become obsolete or non-competitive before we can recover the expenses incurred in connection with their development. If competitors introduce new products or new variations on their existing products, our Proprietary Products, even those protected by patents, may experience substantial reductions in value. In order to enhance our business, we frequently seek to acquire or make strategic investments in complementary businesses or products, or to enter into strategic partnerships or alliances with third parties. It is possible that we may not identify suitable acquisition, strategic investment or strategic partnership candidates, or if we do identify suitable candidates, we may not complete those transactions on terms commercially acceptable to us. We compete with others to acquire companies, and we believe that this competition has intensified and may result in decreased availability or increased prices for suitable acquisition candidates. Even after we identify acquisition candidates and/or announce that we plan to acquire a company, we may ultimately fail to consummate the acquisition. For example, we may be unable to obtain necessary regulatory approvals, including the approval of antitrust regulatory bodies. All acquisitions involve known and unknown risks that could adversely affect our future revenues and operating results.

In certain markets, sales of a limited number of products may represent a significant portion of our net revenues, gross profit and net earnings. If the volume or pricing of such products declines in the future, our business, financial position and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

In the United States, similar to other pharmaceutical companies, we sell our products through wholesale distributors and large retail chains in addition to hospitals, pharmacies and other groups. During the year ended March 31, 2021, our ten largest customers accounted for approximately 81% of our North America Global Generics segment's revenues, and two of these customers collectively represented approximately 15% of our total company revenues. Refer to Note 5 (under "Information about major customers") of our consolidated financial statements for certain major customer details. Consolidation and integration of the drug wholesalers, retail drug chains, private insurers, managed care organizations and other purchasing organizations may continue to adversely affect pharmaceutical manufacturers. Such consolidations has resulted in these groups gaining additional purchasing leverage and, consequently, increasing the product pricing pressures facing our business. We expect this trend of increased pricing pressures to continue. Such pressures have reduced, and could continue to reduce, our revenue, margins and profitability. Additionally, the emergence of large buying groups representing independent retail pharmacies, and the prevalence and influence of managed care organizations and similar institutions, creates competition among pharmaceutical companies to have their products included in the formulary of those groups and enables those groups to extract price discounts on our products.

Our industry has been increasingly challenged by the vulnerability of distribution channels to illegal counterfeiting and the presence of counterfeit products in a growing number of markets and over the Internet. Third parties may illegally distribute and sell counterfeit versions of our products, which do not meet the rigorous manufacturing and testing standards that our products undergo. Counterfeit products are frequently unsafe or ineffective, and can be potentially life-threatening. Counterfeit medicines may contain harmful substances, the wrong dose of the API or no API at all. However, to distributors and patients, counterfeit products may be visually indistinguishable from the authentic version. Reports of adverse reactions to counterfeit drugs or increased levels of counterfeiting could materially affect patient confidence in the authentic product, and harm the business of companies such as ours. Additionally, it is possible that adverse events caused by unsafe counterfeit products would mistakenly be attributed to the authentic product. In addition, there could be thefts of inventory at warehouses, plants or while in-transit, which are not properly stored and which are sold through unauthorized channels.

Labor laws may restrict our ability to have human resource policies that would allow us to react swiftly to the needs of our business. As of March 31, 2021, approximately 3.4% of our employees belonged to a number of different labor unions. If we experience problems with our labor unions that may adversely affect our production capacity and our overall results and operations. In 2019, the Ministry of Labour and Employment in India introduced 4 bills to consolidate 29 central laws regulating: (i) wages, (ii) industrial relations, (iii) social security, and (iv) occupational safety, health and working conditions. The Government of India replaced these bills with new ones on September 19, 2020. India's Code on Social Security, 2020, which aims to consolidate, codify and revise certain existing social security laws, received Presidential assent in September 2020 and has been published in the Gazette of India. However, the related final rules have not yet been issued and the date on which this Code will come into effect has not been announced. We will assess the impact of this Code and the rules thereunder when they come into effect.

In some of our businesses, we rely on third parties for the timely supply of active pharmaceutical ingredients ("API"), specified raw materials, equipment, formulation or packaging services and maintenance services, and in some cases there could be a single source of supply. Although, we actively manage these third party relationships to ensure continuity of supplies and services on time and to our required specifications, events beyond our control could result in the complete or partial failure of supplies and services or in supplies and services not being delivered on time. In the event that we experience a shortage in our supply of raw materials, we might be unable to fulfill all of the API needs of our Global Generics segment, which could result in a loss of production capacity for this segment. Moreover, we may continue to be dependent on vendors, strategic partners and alliance partners for supplies of some of our existing products and new generic launches. Any unanticipated capacity or supply related constraints affecting such vendors, strategic partners or alliance partners can adversely affect our business or results of operations. Our key generics manufacturing sites also may have capacity constraints and, at times, we may not be able to generate sufficient supplies of finished goods.