Dr Reddy's rejigs top deck as North America head quits

By Vikas Dandekar

MUMBAI: Dr Reddy's Laboratories' North America head, Umang Vora, has quit the Hyderabad-based drugmaker, leading the company to shuffle its top management.

Vora was previously the company's CFO in India, and during his 13 years at Dr Reddy's, he also handled key functions like M&A, operational improvement and derisking strategies.

Vora will be replaced by Alok Sonig, who is currently responsible for the Indian market and is a member of the management council at the company. Before moving to Dr Reddy's in 2012, Sonig had worked for US drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb as its India chief from 2007.

He was also placed in the US by BMS to drive its commercial excellence and business model innovation functions at Princeton, New Jersey.

Sonig's position will be handled, likely on an interim basis, by MV Ramana, who currently heads the emerging markets business.

A company spokesperson confirmed the changes. Analysts tracking these developments said the India role may be filled fast and that the process is already on to identify the candidates.

One analyst said Vora may be preparing to pick a plum position at rival Cipla, but this could not be immediately verified.