Pharmaceutical major GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals is planning significant investments in clinical research and development of new drugs in the run-up to the patent regime effective from 2005.

The company is also in the process of developing two new drugs.

S Kalyanasundaram, managing director, Glaxo, said: "We are currently undergoing trails for two new drugs, one of which is an antibiotic for skin ailments. We cannot talk about the other drug at this time. It will take around two-three years before we apply for the Food and Drug Administration's approvals for these compositions."

The research on these drugs is being conducted simultaneously at other Glaxo subsidiaries worldwide, Kalyanasundaram added.

Glaxo, which has also lined up the launch of two vaccines in the current year, is awaiting regulatory approvals.

The company recently launched Priorix  -- an improved version of the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella. Priorix is a research project of the parent company GlaxoSmithKline Plc and is now being launched in India.

Meanwhile, GlaxoSmithKline Plc is looking at R&D with domestic pharmaceutical companies. The global drug major had entered into an R&D agreement with Ranbaxy last year.

Kalyanasundaram had earlier said that such tie-ups could not be ruled out as Glaxo Plc was the hub of all clinical research for the company.

However, no decision has been taken in this regard, he added. Glaxo had posted a net profit of Rs 172.22 crore (Rs 1.72 billion) for the accounting year ended December 31, 2003, marking a 75.64 per cent increase over the previous year, on net sales of Rs 1,191 crore (Rs 11.91 billion).

In January and February this year, the company had recorded sales of Rs 237 crore (Rs 2.37 billion), a rise of 13.9 per cent over the sales in the corresponding period of the previous year.