BIO India Advisory Committee
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Anu Acharya |
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Rashmi Barbhaiya Rashmi H. Barbhaiya, Ph.D. is a Pharmaceutical Executive with 30 years of experience in Pharmaceutical R&D. He has a unique blend of management experience in Drug Discovery, Development and Life Cycle Management. He is one of the founders, CEO and Managing Director of Advinus Therapeutics, a research-based pharma company located in Bangalore and Pune, India. Dr. Barbhaiya started his industrial pharmaceutical career in 1980 with Bristol-Myers Company in United States where he spent the next 21 years. The diversity of his background and experience has played a key role in speedy and successful development of a number of drugs for the treatment of a variety of diseases such as, AIDS and other infectious diseases, cancer, depression, anxiety, hypertension, CHF, diabetes and mild to moderate pain, including migraine. In the year 2002, he returned to India to join Ranbaxy as the President of R & D and led a team of over 900 professionals involved in drug delivery and innovation-driven new drug research and development activities as well as R&D for developing generic drugs. He is credited for attracting world-class experienced scientists from overseas and for enhancing an innovation-driven culture to create one of the leading pharmaceutical R & D organizations in India. He was instrumental in creating an R & D alliance between Ranbaxy and GSK, the first of its kind for an Indian company. He is also credited for creating an alliance between Medicine for Malaria Venture (MMV) and Ranbaxy. In the year 2006, he co-founded Advinus Therapeutics Pvt Ltd. This was his first entrepreneurial venture. Advinus has a unique business model – one of the business units of Advinus focuses on drug discovery while the other one is revenue generating service organization focusing on pre- and early-clinical development. Advinus is created to address fundamental issues of R& D productivity and cost – a center for frugal innovation. Under his leadership, Advinus has already established an impressive record of novel R &D alliances with large pharma, R&D productivity and cost-effective R&D. He obtained a Ph.D. degree in Clinical Pharmacology from the St. Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical College, University of London. He continued his education through post-doctoral training at the University of Florida and University of Wisconsin. His scientific contributions have resulted in over 150 publications. He has served on the Editorial Boards of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy as well as Biopharmaceutics and Drug Disposition journals. Dr. Barbhaiya has received a number of awards for his scientific contributions. Some of these include AAPS Fellow, AAPS Meritorious Manuscript Award, AAiPS Outstanding Achievement Award, Ranbaxy Award for Excellence in Pharmaceutical Research, India Life Sciences Person of the Year 2007 by Burrill & Company and BioSpectrum Entrepreneur of the Year 2010. |
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Vijay Chandru, PhD Vijay Chandru is an alumnus of BITS Pilani where he trained in Electrical Engineering and went on to get a doctorate from MIT. Vijay is an academic and an entrepreneur. His academic career in mathematical and computational sciences has spanned over thirty years as a research scientist and professor at Purdue University, IBM’s TJ Watson Center, Indian Institute of Science, UPenn, Stanford and at MIT. He is a fellow of the national academies of science and engineering in India. Vijay has been recognized as a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum in 2006. He currently serves as Chairman & CEO of Strand Life Sciences, a leading computational biology company in Bangalore. He serves on the “High Panel on Science and Technology for Development” to advise UNESCO, the Global Advisory Board of the MIT Enterprise Forum (Technology Review Magazine), and the Governing Board of the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum. |
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Melvin D'Souza |
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Nitin Deshmukh Nitin is the founding member of the Private Equity practice at Kotak and has played the pivotal role in building the Alternate Assets business to USD $ 1.4 bn Funds currently under management at Kotak Investment Advisors. With over 23 years of experience in Venture Capital (VC) & Private Equity (PE) investing, Nitin has seen the growth of the VC/PE space from being a mere nomenclature to being one of the most preferred financing vehicles in the country today. Nitin’s uncanny ability to identify trends and leaders in their infancy and helping them realize their potential, has been the hallmark of his career. He has lead and managed investments in over 80 companies, a significant number of which have grown at a scorching pace attaining leadership position in their respective sectors. Prior to joining Kotak in June 2004, Nitin was Director of Dresdner Kleinwort Capital. Prior to joining Dresdner, Nitin had a long stint of over 12.5 years with ICICI Venture since its inception in 1989 to being its Chief of PE Investments heading its funding and investment management activities of various Funds, till the early part of this decade. During his association with ICICI Venture he led its investment strategy in Life Sciences (Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology), Media/Entertainment and Retailing Industries achieving high returns for it’s investors by investing in these sectors ahead of competition. Nitin has strong association with Pharma/ Biotech Industry in the country, having served as The Director General of Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises (ABLE), the apex industry association of biotech companies in India and having worked with CIPLA, India’s leading pharmaceutical company in various technical and management positions. Nitin holds an MBA degree from University of Bombay. Earlier he earned his Masters Degree in Pharmaceutical Technology from UDCT, Bombay where his research work led to a patent filing on machine design for manufacture of Novel Drug Delivery Systems. He also completed the Post Graduation Programme in Pharmaceutical Technology at the University of Ghent, Belgium. |
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P.M. Murali Dr. P M Murali, is currently Managing Director of the Swiss International Drug Discovery Company Evolva Biotech and also the President and CEO of Evolva Inc, USA. He established Evolva Biotech as India's unique public private partnership in Hyderabad, India before it moved to Chennai. Dr. Murali has a Ph.D in Microbiology from Madurai Kamaraj University and a D.Sc. with over 20 years of experience in Pharmaceutical/FMCG R&D. He was the Founder and Director of the Dalmia Centre for Research and Development for 16 years and prior to this he has worked as an Indo-US Researcher at the Battelle-Kettering Research Centre, Ohio. He serves as the Chairman of the Biotech panel for Tamil Nadu with the Confederation of Indian Industries Tamil Nadu and also as the President of Association of Biotech Led Enterprises (ABLE) the only Industry body for Biotechnology in India. Dr. Murali guides students for their Ph.D at the Bharathiar University and is an Adjunct Professor of the Deakin University in Australia. |
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Utkarsh Palnitkar Mr. Utkarsh Palnitkar is a senior Life Sciences professional with over 25 years of biotech industry experience. As partner at Ernst & Young India, Mr. Planitkar led the Life Sciences practice from conception to execution, and now serves on E&Y’s global pharmaceuticals and biotechnology steering committee. In 2010, he became Executive Director at Centrum Capital Limited, one of India’s leaders in financial services and investment banking. He also serves as a Managing Director at Pluripotent Capital, a life sciences dedicated fund. Additionally, Mr. Palnitkar advises several committees, including the Government of India’s Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council, the Biotechnology Advisory Committee for the Government of Andhra Pradesh, and the CII and FICCI National Pharmaceuticals Committees. Mr. Palnitkar also attended Harvard Business School where he completed his AMP. With an extensive background in M&A and private equity, Mr. Palnitkar has advised many top Indian biotech and pharmaceutical companies on growth strategy and marketing plans. Notably, Mr. Palnitkar contributed to the privatization of Genome Valley in Hyderabad, India’s first and largest biotech cluster. In addition, he has collaborated with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on the Indian Life Sciences sector and served as an Engagement Partner for Vibrant Gujarat, India’s largest investment promotion initiative. |
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Tapan Ray Mr. Tapan Ray is the Director General of the Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI). Mr. Ray has over 30 years experience in the Pharmaceutical and Life Science Industry and has held various senior positions in India and abroad, such as Global Commercial Strategy Manager, Glaxo plc., U.K.; Director in the Board of Glaxo India Limited; Managing Director, Abbott Laboratories India Limited; Chairman of the Board of Shasun Pharma Solutions Ltd. He was also the President of OPPI. Mr. Ray is Member of the Council, International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA), Geneva. He represents various Committees of the Government and Industry Associations like, FICCI and CII. He is also a Member of the Governing Board of the Institute of Intellectual Property Studies (IIPS) and is a visiting faculty member at India’s top Management Institutes. Mr. Ray holds a B.Sc. (Honors) and a Masters Degree in Geology from the University of Calcutta and was a National Scholar. He is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad. |
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Ranjit Shahani Ranjit Shahani is Country President Novartis India responsible for the overall operations of the Novartis AG Companies in India He started his career with ICI in India in their businesses of Fibres & Speciality chemicals. Later, he rose to the position of General Manager with ICI / ZENECA in the U.K., overseeing their Asia Pacific and LatAm PTA operations for their Petrochemicals and Plastics division. This was followed by a period as CEO at Roche Products Limited, after which he moved to Novartis in India in 1997, following the merger of Sandoz and Ciba-Geigy as CEO Healthcare. Mr Shahani is President, Organisation of Pharmaceuticals Producers of India (OPPI), an organization he also lead earlier from 2001-2007, is Past President of the Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, President, Swiss Indian Chamber of Commerce, and was on the Council of the International Federation of Pharmaceuticals Manufacturers Associations (IFPMA, Geneva). He is a thought leader in the Pharmaceutical Industry and has been actively involved in lobbying for a strong Product Patent law in the country and Data Protection and liberalization of the price control mechanism for Pharmaceuticals. He has also strongly canvassed for deterrent legislation against counterfeit drugs and liberalisation of FDI in the Pharmaceutical Industry. |
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Sunny Sharma Dr. Sunny Sharma is a Senior Managing Director on the Asia team of OrbiMed Advisors. Dr. Sharma has more than a dozen years of life sciences experience spanning venture capital, investment banking, and clinical practice. Dr. Sharma was previously with Investor Growth Capital (IGC), the wholly owned global venture capital arm of Investor AB, and before that with Easton Capital, a venture capital fund in New York. While at IGC and Easton Capital, Dr. Sharma led or played a senior role on over a dozen life sciences investments. Earlier in his career, Dr. Sharma was with Lehman Brothers' healthcare investment banking group in London, and before that he practiced medicine in northern India. Dr. Sharma holds an M.B.A. from Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and a medical degree (M.B.B.S.) from Christian Medical College, Ludhiana where he was awarded the Vipin Khanna Memorial Gold Medal for graduating as the best intern. |
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Romi Singh Dr. Romi Singh has extensive scientific and management experience in top-tier pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies such as Burroughs/GlaxoWellcome, Merck and Amgen. He is well published in drug discovery, preclinical development and is internationally recognized as an expert on regulatory affairs, clinical trials and drug registrations in developing countries. He is actively involved in advancing regulatory policy for biologics and small molecules in emerging countries through various advocacy and outreach efforts. He is a lecturer at various universities and holds an adjunct faculty position at Thomas Jefferson University. Dr. Singh is currently an Executive Director of Global Regulatory & Safety at Amgen. He obtained an undergraduate degree from St. Stephen's College, doctorate from the University of Kansas and has received postdoctoral training from the University of Washington. |
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Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
A successful technocrat of global standing, Ms. Shaw heads India’s leading Biotechnology enterprise, Biocon. She is highly respected in the corporate world and has been named among TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world. Recently, Economic Times placed her at India Inc’s top 10 most powerful women CEO for the year 2012. Her pioneering efforts in biotechnology have drawn global recognition both for Indian Industry and Biocon. |
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Sujay J. Shetty Sujay is a Partner and leads the Pharmaceutical, Life Sciences and Medical Devices practice of PwC India. Sujay specializes in strategy, transactions and outsourcing. He has over 18 years of industry experience in the Pharmaceutical & Medical Devices industry in India, the UK and Southeast Asia. He has led four international companies at the board level (three of which were in the Pharma / Medical device industry), including two start-ups where he was responsible for leading senior management teams and creating and executing corporate strategy. |
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K.V. Subramaniam K.V. Subramaniam is the President and CEO of Reliance Life Sciences, a research-driven organization developing business opportunities in biopharmaceuticals, pharmaceuticals, clinical research services, regenerative medicine and molecular medicine. Reliance Life Sciences is part of the Reliance Group of companies in India, with group revenues of US$ 67 billion in the energy and materials value chain. K.V. Subramaniam is a Chemical Engineer from Madras University, an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, a Chartered Financial Analyst and a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineers. In a career spanning 31 years with the Reliance Group and Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd., he has been responsible for several functions – from corporate business development, corporate planning, project management and economic analysis to marketing; in a range of businesses – from petrochemicals, energy, alternative energy, infrastructure, insurance, education, health care and agriculture to life sciences. |
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