Board of Directors, Management & Advisory Council

Mission, Vision, Values
Why Suven ?
Our Journey
Background
Quality
Code of Conduct
Board of Directors, Management & Advisory Council

Mission, Vision, Values
Why Suven ?
Our Journey
Background
Quality
Code of Conduct
Board of Directors, Management & Advisory Council

Board of Directors

Vivek Sharma

Executive Chairman

Vivek Sharma

Executive Chairman

Mr. Vivek Sharma has been appointed as the Executive Chairman of Suven, effective September 20, 2024, and will oversee the company's overall business operations, driving growth and strategic direction. With over 25 years of experience in life sciences and the financial industry, Vivek brings a unique blend of expertise in pharmaceutical services, data analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI). His leadership philosophy focuses on aligning the interests of investors, customers, and employees to create significant business value.

Vivek’s extensive knowledge of the CDMO (Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization) sector is reflected in his prior leadership roles, including serving as CEO of Piramal Pharma Solutions from 2014 to 2019, where he led global growth initiatives, and as Chairman and CEO of Adare Pharma Solutions, a technology-driven CDMO, from 2020 to 2022. He also served as CEO of Decision Resources Group, a leader in healthcare analytics, from 2019 to 2020, and most recently as CEO of Saama, an AI-driven clinical analytics company, from 2022 to 2024. In recognition of his significant contributions to the pharmaceutical industry, Vivek was honoured as ‘Global CEO of the Year’ by the CPhI Pharma Awards in 2015.

Vivek holds an Executive MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and is a Chartered and Certified Public Accountant (CPA). Beyond his professional accomplishments, Vivek is passionate about philanthropy, actively supporting causes focused on women’s empowerment, social and educational advocacy, and environmental sustainability. Since 2019, he has been a board member of CEM and continues to serve on the boards of several biotech and technology startups.

Prasada Raju V, PhD

Managing Director

Prasada Raju V, PhD

Managing Director

Dr. V. Prasada Raju is the Company's Managing Director, appointed on 29th September 2023. Dr Prasada Raju is also CEO and MD of Cohance Lifesciences Ltd.

Dr Prasada Raju served as an Executive Director at Granules India Ltd., where he played a key role in driving growth strategy, managing the product portfolio, overseeing scientific and regulatory affairs, handling intellectual property matters, and leading new business initiatives. Moreover, he was instrumental in establishing R&D and Greenfield projects within the company. As part of his responsibilities, he served on the Boards of Granules Omnichem Pvt Ltd (Vizag, India), Granules Pharmaceuticals Inc. (DC, USA), and USpharma Ltd (FL, USA).

Dr Prasada Raju's impressive academic background includes a PhD in chemistry, a PG Dip in patent law, and specialised training in material sciences at IIT, Chicago, USA. He is also an alumnus of the Senior Management Program at IIMC (Indian Institute of Management). With over 30 years of techno-commercial experience in the pharmaceutical industry, spanning various aspects of the value chain, he has held leadership roles at Granules India Limited and Dr Reddy's Laboratories. During his tenure at Dr. Reddy's, from 1994 to 2012, he provided technical, strategic, and operational leadership in uniquely challenging positions within the pharma sector.

Overall, Dr V. Prasada Raju's extensive experience and expertise make him a highly respected and accomplished figure in the pharmaceutical industry, where he continues to make significant contributions in his current roles.

Pankaj Patwari

Non-Executive Director

Pankaj Patwari

Non-Executive Director

Mr Pankaj Patwari is a Non-Executive Director of the Company, effect from 29th September 2023. He is a Chartered Accountant by training and holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management (Lucknow).

As Managing Director - of Advent India PE Advisors Private Limited, he has managed Advent's investments in Manjushree Technopack Limited and Bharat Serums and Vaccines Limited (BSV). He has also been a Director at Manjushree Technopack Limited and Gokaldas Intimatewear Private Limited.

Having worked with Bain Capital before Advent for six years, Pankaj worked on several pharmaceutical and industrial transactions. Before his stint at Bain, Pankaj spent four years with McKinsey & Co., focusing primarily on financial services.

K G Ananthakrishnan

Independent Director

K G Ananthakrishnan

Independent Director

Mr. K G Ananthakrishnan is an Independent Director of the Company with effect from 29th September 2023. Throughout his illustrious career, Mr Ananthakrishnan has held influential positions, including Director General of the Organization of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI) and Co-Chair of the Pharma Committee at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), where he played a pivotal role in shaping vital policy initiatives.

Educationally, Mr Ananthakrishnan holds a Master's in Marketing Management from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai, and a Bachelor's in Science from Osmania University, Hyderabad. To further enhance his knowledge and skills, he has completed Executive Development Programs at the Wharton Business School, USA, and the Finance for Non-Finance Program at INSEAD, France.

With over 40 years of progressive leadership experience in the pharmaceutical market, Mr. Ananthakrishnan’s career began in 1976 with Novartis India Limited. He then held key positions at Pharmacia India, Pfizer India Ltd., and Fulford (India) Ltd. Notably, during his tenure as Vice President and Managing Director of the South Asia Region at MSD, he successfully transformed the company into a rapid-growth pharmaceutical powerhouse.

Matangi Gowrishankar

Independent Director

Matangi Gowrishankar

Independent Director

Ms Matangi Gowrishankar is an Independent Director of the Company with effect from 29th September 2023. She is a distinguished expert, serving as a Strategic Advisor, Certified Coach, and Catalyst for change. Prior to her current role, Ms Gowrishankar held the esteemed position of BP's Global Head of Capability Development, where she played a crucial role in enhancing the organisation's talent capabilities and driving leadership excellence.

With over 40 years of experience working with senior leadership teams, Ms Matangi Gowrishankar brings knowledge and insights to support organisations' growth and transformation endeavours. Her extensive Business and Human Resources professional background has provided her invaluable global exposure and a deep understanding of various leadership aspects.

Having closely collaborated with Senior Leadership teams, Ms Gowrishankar possesses valuable expertise in emerging skills such as Contemporary Leadership, Leading in a digitally enabled world, and leadership transformation. She collaborates closely with organisations to develop leadership capabilities that align with the demands of a rapidly evolving business landscape, ensuring sustainable success and growth. As an Independent Director, she contributes her wealth of experience and strategic guidance to the Company, playing a significant role in its development and progress.

Vinod Rao

Independent Director

Vinod Rao

Independent Director

Mr Vinod Rao is an Independent Director of the Company with effect from 29th September 2023. Currently, he is also a Director at Eureka Forbes. Mr Rao has held senior roles at renowned organisations such as Diageo (FTSE 10), PepsiCo (S&P 100), and ICI (formerly FTSE 100). Over 35 years of expertise spans various industries, including FMCG, consumer durables, and industrial products.

Throughout his career, Mr Rao has developed a deep understanding of developing and developed markets, including India, China, Southeast Asia, the UK, and Europe. This global exposure has enabled him to navigate diverse business environments and contribute valuable insights to organisations operating in different regions.

Pravin Rao

Independent Director

Pravin Rao

Independent Director

Mr Pravin is an Independent Director of the company, with effect from 9th November 2023. He has done his bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Bangalore University and comes with 35+ years of rich experience. He started as a software engineer trainee with Infosys in 1986 and superannuated as Chief Operating Officer and Member of Board in Dec’22. He acts as independent director at Axis Finance Limited, Indegene Pvt Ltd, Zensar Technologies Ltd.

Shweta Jalan

Non-Executive Director

Shweta Jalan

Non-Executive Director

Ms Shweta Jalan is a Non-Executive Director of the Company, with effect from 9th November 2023. She has been Managing Director with Advent India PE Advisors Private Limited (Advent) since 2009. Before joining Advent, she worked with ICICI Venture, India's largest private equity firm. Before that, she had spent a year with the corporate finance division of Ernst & Young. She is also a Director at Dixcy Textiles Private Limited and Manjushree Technopack Limited. Shweta has experience sourcing and negotiating transactions and has worked across various sectors, including industrial, media, business services, and IT/BPO. She also offers counsel on managing investments and planning successful exits, viz., sales to strategic buyers and listing companies.

Vinod Padikkal

Non-Executive Director

Vinod Padikkal

Non-Executive Director

Mr. Vinod Padikkal is a Senior Portfolio Manager within ADIA’s Private Equities Department covering the India and Southeast Asia region, where he has managed and advised several portfolio investments in these regions as a part of his role.

Prior to joining ADIA in 2021, Mr. Padikkal has experience as a director at Advent International in India, and at Bain Capital and Bain & Co. in India, where he also successfully helped advise portfolio companies in their operations and management.

Mr. Padikkal holds a B. Tech in computer science and engineering from Cochin University of Science and Technology, and holds an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad. He has experience in holding directorship positions on several boards including ASK Investment Managers, Manjushree Technopack and Enamor.

Jai Shankar Krishnan

Independent Director

Jai Shankar Krishnan

Independent Director

Mr. Jai Shankar Krishnan has since September 2019, been spearheading strong growth for Danaher Corporation from High Growth Markets. The High Growth Market geographies include India, Japan, Korea, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Middle East, Africa, Turkey, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. In 2017, Mr. Krishnan expanded his leadership role at Danaher Corporation to include Southeast Asia. He joined Danaher Corporation as President and CEO for India in 2008. Before joining Danaher, Mr. Krishnan has worked with PerkinElmer Life and Analytical Sciences as President – India; Novartis Healthcare Pvt Ltd. as Head Global Services – India, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Ltd. as Business Unit Head. He started his career with Hindustan Unilever.

Mr. Krishnan is a Harvard Business School Alumni; Associate Certified Coach from International Coaching Federation; Global Lean Manufacturing certification and Six Sigma Master Blackbelts; META Leadership Program from Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health & Harvard Kennedy School of Govt. He is also MBA from Birla Institute of Technology.

Management Team

Sudhir Kumar Singh, PhD

Chief Executive Officer

Sudhir Kumar Singh, PhD

Chief Executive Officer

Dr Sudhir Kumar Singh is the Chief Executive Officer of the Company, appointed on 29th September 2023.

Dr Singh's academic background includes a PhD in Medicinal Chemistry from one of India’s premier research organisations, Central Drug Research Institute, followed by a post-A doctoral fellowship in the USA and a faculty member at Rutgers University, New Jersey, with over three decades of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. He has served as the Chief Operating Officer at Aragen Life Sciences Ltd. Dr Singh led a team of 2000 scientists in India's largest Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO). His strategic guidance and exceptional project management have driven the organisation's growth and success.

With a strong drug discovery and development background, evidenced by his significant research contributions and patented innovations, Dr Singh has played a crucial role in advancing drug development efforts within the industry.

Gaurav Bahadur

Chief Human Resources Officer

Gaurav Bahadur

Chief Human Resources Officer

Mr Gaurav Bahadur is the Chief Human Resources Officer of the company. He was appointed on 29 September 2023. He is responsible for overseeing and managing various aspects of the human resources function within the company.

Gaurav has held leadership roles in renowned companies such as Vodafone Essar, Yahoo! India, and Philips India. His transformative tenure at Sanofi India, where he spearheaded strategic HR initiatives, showcases his expertise in building performance-driven cultures. Gaurav holds a master’s degree in Personnel Management from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai.

Raju Komaravolu

Chief Strategy Officer

Raju Komaravolu

Chief Strategy Officer

Mr Raju Komaravolu is the Chief Strategy Officer of the Company. He was appointed on 29th September 2023. He is responsible for the Company's overall Strategic choice-making, M&A Integration, Strategic Marketing and Transformation agenda.

Raju has a B Tech from NIT Warangal and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad and has worked for ITC Ltd, McKinsey & Co. and Dr Reddy’s Labs Ltd.

Raju brings over 27 years of multi-industry experience across Strategy, Sales, Marketing, Manufacturing, and Project Management. Raju held several P&L leadership roles during the last five years at Dr Reddy’s. His leadership strengths lie in strategy development and strong execution.

Declan Ryan, PhD

Chief Commercial Officer

Declan Ryan, PhD

Chief Commercial Officer

Dr. Declan Ryan brings 25+ years of pharmaceutical and biotech expertise, with a proven track record as a business development and growth expert. A Ph.D. alumnus of the University of Lausanne, with postdoctoral research at Yale and Pittsburgh, Dr. Ryan joins us from distinguished roles at WuXi, Shanghai ChemPartner, AMRI, Johnson & Johnson, and Novartis.

Himanshu Agarwal

Chief Financial Officer

Himanshu Agarwal

Chief Financial Officer

Mr Himanshu Agarwal our Chief Financial Officer was appointed on the 2nd of Jan 2024. He is responsible for overseeing and managing Finance, IT, Legal, Secretarial and Investor Relations.

Himanshu brings with him 29 years of professional experience and prior to joining Suven, he held leadership roles in ICI India, Astra Zeneca Pharma, Akzo Nobel India, Huhtamaki Oyj and Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. Himanshu brings broad Global and Indian experience in Finance, M&A, Strategy, Investor relations, operations and technology enablement in coatings, chemicals, Pharma, Packaging and Media Industries.

He has successfully led many strategic initiatives including business-enabled finance transformation, profit turnaround, value chain optimisation and several M&A deals and integrations. He has enabled technology deployment from ERP to BOTs, enabling process transformation and simplification.

Himanshu is a rank-holder Chartered Accountant, a company secretary, a cost and management accountant and has been awarded best CFO by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

K Nagendra Babu, PhD

Chief Quality and Compliance Officer

K Nagendra Babu, PhD

Chief Quality and Compliance Officer

Dr. K. Nagendra Babu comes with 25+ Years of comprehensive experience (Finished Dosage and APIs) in the fields of Global Audit and Compliance, Vendor Management, Third Party Management, Quality Operations (QA, QC, DQA & CQA), Manufacturing of Finished Dosage, Manufacturing of APIs and in conducting Quality Audits of varied suppliers. Dr. K. Nagendra Babu comes with experiences gained from Mylan Pharmaceuticals (Viatris), Gravity Pharmaceuticals Private Limited, Granules India Limited, Mylan Pharmaceuticals (Mylan Inc.) GSK Pharmaceuticals Limited, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories and Aurobindo Pharma Limited.

Dr. K. Nagendra Babu, with his Doctorate in Chemistry and the numerous trainings that he has undergone, has a robust understanding of various quality operations, regulatory affairs and GxP audit processes. He will work closely with the Quality Operations, Regulatory Affairs and the Operations team in designing and implementing best-in-class quality and compliance standards and systems.

Advisory Council

Annaswamy Vaidheesh

Vice-Chair

Annaswamy Vaidheesh

Vice-Chair

Mr. Vaidheesh is a successful senior business leader from the most admired Fortune 100 companies with more than 35 years of diverse experience in the healthcare and FMCG Industry, including at Johnson and Johnson, Pfizer and GSK. He has proven expertise in general management with a strong background in market creation and leadership development. Further, he has rich experience in building strong leadership for brands/franchises across varied categories (healthcare and FMCG) and in multi-grid and multi-cultural Locations in the Asia-Pacific region.

Prior to his current roles, Mr Vaidheesh has amassed a wealth of experience in the industry. He held significant positions, including the President of OPPI (Organization of Pharmaceutical Producers of India) and Chairman of various committees and councils of Industry bodies in India and the region. He was recognised by various prestigious organisations like the Economic Times for his leadership capabilities.

Additionally, he has served as an operating partner with Advent International.

Venkateswarlu Jasti

Advisor

Venkateswarlu Jasti

Advisor

Mr. Venkateswarlu Jasti holds a postgraduate degree in Pharmacy from Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, and St. John University, New York, specializing in Industrial Pharmacy.

Mr. Jasti is a highly accomplished individual with a strong background in pharmacy and business. He has pioneered CRAMS business model in India. He founded Suven Pharma Ltd and Suven Life Sciences Limited and successfully led the company since its inception in 1989. Under his leadership, Suven Life Sciences Limited has developed innovative business models and initiated discovery programs resulting in a pipeline of 13 molecules, including SUVN-502, currently undergoing a Phase 3 study in the USA for Agitation in Alzheimer's disease and completed SUVN-G3031, Phase 2 study targeted treatment for Narcolepsy, excessive day time sleep disorder. Mr Jasti has also played vital roles in forming the A.P. Chief Minister's task force for Pharma, the establishment of Pharma City in Vishakhapatnam, and the creation of PHARMEXCIL. He has held significant leadership positions in industry associations such as the Indian Pharmaceutical Association and the Bulk Drug Manufacturers Association of India.

Stefan Stoffel

Advisor

Stefan Stoffel

Advisor

Mr Stefan Stoffel is an Advisor of the Company with effect from October 2023. Mr Stoffel is a highly accomplished professional, holding a degree in engineering from Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (CH). With over 35 years of experience, he has demonstrated expertise in production engineering, plant operations, and supply chain management. Stoffel's exceptional track record, coupled with his experience as the former COO of Lonza, highlights his ability to manage complex operations and successfully navigate the demands of the industry.

Mr Stoffel has held significant roles throughout his career, including Head of Lonza Pharma & Biotech Strategic Growth Investments and Ibex Solutions, Head of Lonza Pharma & Biotech Operations, and General Manager of Lonza Chemical Operations Business Unit.

Abhijit Mukherjee

Advisor

Abhijit Mukherjee

Advisor

Abhijit Mukherjee has joined Advisory council effective October 2023. A chemical engineer from IIT-Kharagpur, Mr. Mukherjee superannuated from Dr. Reddy’s in March 2018 after playing varied senior roles there for 15 years; the last stint at Dr. Reddy’s was as COO from 2014 to 2018.

Mr. Mukherjee had worked with Hindustan Unilever Ltd for 13 years and with Atul Limited for nine years. Apart from serving on the board of Bharat Serums and Vaccines Limited and ZCL Chemicals Limited, Mr. Mukherjee is on the board of ICE in Milan, Italy.