Ex-Cipla honcho Ananthanarayanan new CEO of Strides

Leading drug maker Strides Pharma Science Ltd appointed former Cipla honcho R. Ananthanarayanan (Ananth) as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director from Thursday.

"Ananth will succeed our founder and incumbent CEO Arun Kumar following his appointment as the new Chief Executive by the Board," said the city-based company in a statement here on Wednesday.

Arun will be the chairman of the board from April 1 after relinquishing the executive post at the end of this fiscal 2019-20 on March 31.

Till recently, Ananth was the chief operating officer at drug major Cipla Ltd.

"Ananth has over three decades of global pharmaceutical experience in technical and commercial functions. At Cipla, he was responsible for its generics business in regulated markets and branded generics in emerging markets," said the statement.

Prior to Cipla, Ananth was CEO of Global APIs, Biologics, & Medis Generics B2B division at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd in the US, managing multi-billion P&L responsibility.

He has also held leadership roles at Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Piramal Healthcare (formerly Nicholas Piramal), Galpharm International, UK (acquired by Perrigo Group), and Zydus Cadila.

A doctorate (Ph.D) in pharmaceutical technology from the University of Bombay, Ananth has been a member of the board of advisors at the School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at Fairleigh Dickinson University, New Jersey in the US.

"Ananth's appointment comes when Strides has reset its strategy to drive profitable growth on the back of a stronger balance sheet. The Board believes that his global techno-commercial experience and leadership stature in managing the P&Ls of large global pharma firms will multiply our commitment to creating value for our stakeholders," noted the statement.

Strides global manufacturing sites are in Bangalore (two locations), Puducherry, and Chennai in India, Singapore, Milan in Italy, Nairobi in Kenya- Nairobi and Florida in the US. It focusses on "difficult to manufacture" products that are sold in over 100 countries.

"As these are exciting times for the company, I look forward to partner with our global colleagues to ensure we deliver quality medicines to all our patients globally," said Ananth on the occasion.