A drug funder of the New Zealand Government, Pharmac is ready to give funds to the Indian firm Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, which has made Quetiapine drug.

Pharmac has said that the subsidy for Seroquel, a brand of the antipsychotic drug Quetiapine will be reduced from 1 October and in its place they will introduce the new brand of Quetiapine made by the Indian pharma giant Dr. Reddy's Laboratories.

The Medical Director of Pharmac, Peter Moodie has said that along with the existing drug Quetapel, the drug which has been introduced will be fully funded.

Dr. Reddy's CFO, Umang Vohra has said that the contracting funding has been won by them and the Government of New Zealand wants to boost the revenues from our country.

"The New Zealand market for Quetiapine is small compared to USA. However, the Government funding will help increase revenues", Mr. Vohra added.

It had been confirmed by Vohra that presently revenues from New Zealand are USD 10 million. Every year, nearly 34,000 from New Zealand use Quetiapine along with the Seroquel, which is most commonly used in region.

Quetiapine is used for the treatment of manic and depressive dimensions of bipolar disorder and AstraZeneca has said in its annual report that in the USA, the annual sale of the drug is about USD 3.01 billion.