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Brief Profile of the Awardee

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Dr D Srinivasa Reddy

  • 2015
  • Chemical Sciences
  • 10/04/1971
  • Organic Synthesis & Medicinal Chemistry
Award Citation:

Dr Reddy has made outstanding contributions in the area of total synthesis of natural products and in medicinal chemistry. Particularly for contribution to the discovery of LIK066, a phase II clinical candidate for treating diabetes and developing novel synthetic routes to drugs such as Ivacaftor for treating cystic fibrosis. Further he has identified Linezolid analogue with high brain to plasma ratio through silicon incorporation.

Academic Qualifications:
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Thesis and Guide details:
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Details of CSIR Fellowship/ Associateship held, if any or from other sources/ agencies.
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Significant foreign assignments:
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(a) Significant contributions to science and/ or technology development by the nominee based on the work done in India during most part of last 5 years:
Dr. Reddy’s research group at NCL focuses mainly on total synthesis of biologically active compounds and medicinal chemistry with an ultimate aim of discovering drugs, which are of the immediate social importance and relevance. In addition, identifying small molecules for crop protection is also of significant interest to this group. Reddy’s group has accomplished the synthesis of 20 natural products which include cell-adhesion inhibitors, antibacterial, antiinflammatory, anti-cancer agents and insect repellents. In the medicinal chemistry front, several programs have been initiated with collaborations from academia and industry. In particular, significant progress has been made using a new concept called “Silicon-switch approach”. The research work conducted over the last five years have been published in the form of 30 articles in reputed journals and resulted in 24 patent filings. The highlights of the work done in the last 5 years are briefly summarized below…. Discovery of an anti-diabetic molecule which is ready for out-licensing Diabetes is a very serious global health problem that has reached epidemic proportions in both developed and developing countries over the last two decades. This is a very serious concern in India, in particular. According to one of the recent reports, it was predicted that by 2030, diabetes may affect up to 8 crore individuals in India alone. Hence, there is now enormous demand for new drugs with new mechanisms. About three years ago, Dr. D. S. Reddy’s group at NCL and Shantani Proteome Ltd., signed an MOU to discover novel drugs for diabetes treatment with an understanding that they share the out-come of the research 50:50 each. In a short time, they have identified molecule (Markush structure is shown below) with novel mechanism and excellent data (see figures below). The identified compound, HIT1007 showed significant effects of glucose management in diabetic mice (db/db) in a dose-dependent manner. It also showed additional benefits like reduction triglyceride (TG) and increase in beta cell mass which is responsible for insulin production. A patent was filed with co-inventorship between Shantani and NCL (WO/2015/015519). Shantani has now showed interest in buying the NCL share of 50% and would like to take it forward for further development (Please see letter to NCL director given as Annexure-I). Identified & Validated New Drug Target Initial Lead Identified (Co-invented) Shantani would like to buy NCL portion & take forward Additional benefits 6 This is one of the major successful achievements in Academia-Industry collaboration in Indian drug discovery. By looking at current low-level efforts on new drug discovery by pharma industry, academic groups need to take a more proactive role this field, more particularly, in the Indian context. Access to enantiopure pheromones towards crop protection Agriculture is the backbone of the Indian economy and any technology towards increasing the yield and quality of crops is immense importance, not only for the farmers themselves but for the economy as a whole. As part of Dr. Reddy’s research interests towards crop protection, recently his group has synthesized an optically pure sex pheromone that can be used to control mealybug population in farms, vineyards, green houses, etc.
(b) Impact of the contributions in the field concerned:
majority of Dr. Reddy’s research work is directly related to the benefits to the society. In the area of health sector, his efforts resulted in discovering new molecules which are potentially useful in treating diabetes and various infectious diseases. LIK066 discovered during his stay in pharma industry is currently in Phase-II human clinical trials and is expected to be marketed in the next 4-5 years. If this happens, billions of diabetic patients will be benefited across the globe. The molecule discovered at NCL in collaboration with Shantani biotech has shown excellent results in diabetic animal models. The company has now showed interest in buying this compound from NCL and taking it forward for further development. In another project, in collaboration with industry partner Incozen therapeutics, funded by DBTBIRAC, Dr. Reddy’s group identified antibacterial compounds which can be potentially used for treating brain infections. These are perfect examples of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) programs which gave results in a very short time. They can be used as model in Indian industry-academia collaboration. Dr. Reddy has established a few other collaborations with other companies like Diachii-Sankyo and Panacea which are going to result in interesting outcomes in the near future. The S‐(+)-pheromone synthesized in his research group has shown very interesting results in vineyard field trials at two geographically different locations (in the USA and New Zealand) which can be used for the crop protection. Dr. Reddy’s group at NCL has signed an MTA with TATA Rallis, India Ltd., which is currently conducting the field trials in Nasik, Maharashtra for this product. If these trials are successful in India, it can be used for controlling mealybugs on grape fields without using harmful pesticides.
Places where work of last 5 years has been referred/ cited in Books, Reviews:
(i). Paper Cited
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(ii). Book Cited
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Names of the industries in which the technology (ies) has (have) been used :
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The achievements already been recognised by Awards by any learned body:
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The Awardee a fellow of the Indian National Science Academy/Indian Academy of Sciences/National Academy of Sciences/Others:
The Awardee delivered invited lecture(s) in India/abroad and/or chaired any scientific Internatiional Conference Symposium:
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List of Awardee's 10 most significant publications.
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List of Awardee's 5 most significant publications during the last 5 years
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List of Awardee's 5 most significant publications from out of work done in India during the last five years:
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Complete list of publications in standard refereed journals:
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Complete list of publications with foreign collaborators (indicating your status as author):
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List of papers published in Conferences /Symposia/ Seminars, etc:
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List of the most outstanding Technical Reports/ Review Articles:
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Statement regarding collaboration with scientists abroad:
Prof. Jocelyn G. Millar, Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside CA 92521, USA: Prof. Millar is a well-known entomologist. The synthesized sex pheromones were evaluated in California vineyards with the help of Millar’s group. Dr. Andrew Twidle, The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Ltd, Lincoln 7608, New Zealand. The synthesized sex pheromones were evaluated in New Zealand vineyards with the help of Twidle’s group. Prof. John Macmillan, Department of Biochemistry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA. Collaboration work is in one of the antibacterial project on Salmonella enterica (food poisoning bacteria). His major role is on biological screening of the synthesized compounds.
List of Patents taken
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Total number of patents granted in last five years.
Details of Books published:
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Contact Details


  • Division of Organic Chemistry
    CSIR National Chemical Laboratory
    Homi Bhabha Road
    Pune - 411008
    Maharashtra INDIA
  • 020 25902445
  • 020 25902445
  • ds[dot]reddy[at]ncl[dot]res[dot]in
16 Feb 2025, https://ssbprize.gov.in/Content/Detail.aspx?AID=513