Building Resilient Vaccine Ecosystems

Dr Ranjan Chakrabarthi

Former Vice President, Global Biologics United States Pharmacopeia
Dr. Ranjan Chakrabarti has over 34 years of experience in Pharmaceutical and Biopharma industries. Dr. Ranjan Chakrabarti is now working as an Independent Consultant and advising Telangana State, NIPER and several Conference organizers. He was the Vice President – Global Biologics at United States Pharmacopeia. During his tenure in USP, he was overseeing scientific outreach activities in South, SE Asia and China. He was also overseeing the Biologics Laboratories in India, US & China. Before joining USP, Dr. Ranjan was leading the Biology Group at Dr. Reddy’s Drug discovery and also served at key management position in GVK Biosciences. He has worked with several National and International companies for discovery and development of both chemical and biological molecules. Before joining to Industry, he worked 7 years in Academics at USA and successfully coordinated research projects in Cancer Cell Biology and Diabetes. He has guided several Ph. D. students. Dr. Ranjan is the Co-Inventor of 32 US Patents; published 62 papers in peer reviewed International Journals and presented 96 lectures in International and National Conferences.

Dr Manoj Kumar Chhikara

Vice President-Manufacturing Science and Technology (VP-MSAT) Inventprise Inc, USA

Dr. Manoj Kumar is a PhD in Veterinary Bacteriology and has worked for over 2 decades in Biotech and Microbiology research with a successful Industry career while working at different leadership positions in Biological E Ltd, Hyderabad, MSD Wellcome Trust Hilleman Labs, New Delhi and Serum Institute of India, Pune.

He is a Vaccine R&D Leader, a Microbiologist and a ONE HEALTH enthusiast with extensive experience in early- to late-stage R&D programs and technology transfers. He has worked on projects spanning academic labs to industry research labs, to development labs and on to manufacturing and quality control settings. He is a proven leader in GLP, GCLP and GMP settings of developing countries for antigen design, process, analytical, formulation, preclinical and clinical development of diverse vaccines and bio-therapeutic products. He is well-versed in scientific, CMC and regulatory requirements in India.

His has contributed to R&D of 27 conjugate vaccine antigens, 6 synthetic vaccine antigens, 8 protein subunit vaccine antigens, 6 viral vaccines, 4 recombinant therapeutic products and 15 diagnostic monoclonal antibodies.

Some of his key achievements are:
20 national & international awards and honors
18 Successful Technology Transfers (R&D to R&D; R&D to QC; R&D to Manufacturing)
Investigator for 6 Pre-clinical toxicity studies
Led 5 Clinical serology projects
5 Successful Grant proposals
18 Patent applications (several already granted in different countries)

Publications:
Editorial (1),
Peer-Reviewed Research Papers (15),
WHO TRS (1),
WHO reports as contributing scientist (3)
Book Chapters (2),
Popular articles (5),
Published Abstracts (>30),
Press releases (31)

Scientific Leadership:
Participated as member of 13 Advisory Committees,
Presented 29 Invited Presentations/Lectures,
Chaired/Co-Chaired 6 Meetings,
Memberships of 10 scientific societies,
Reviewer for 14 Scientific Journals,
Member of Editorial Board of 4 journals,
Has guided 1 PhD and >20 Master’s Degree students as industry co-guide

Dr Kavita Singh

MD I Director, South Asia Advisory Board Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi)

Prof (DR) N K Arora MD

FAMS, FIAP, FIPHA Executive Director - The INCLEN Trust International, New Delhi, India

Professor (Dr) Narendra Kumar Arora (MD –Paediatrics, MMSc – Clinical Epidemiology), from India is the current Executive Director of The INCLEN Trust International since 2005. Prof Arora was a faculty member (Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, & Nutrition) of AIIMS between 1983 and 2007. Prof Arora has been involved in numerous national scientific, research, and academic committees constituted under the MoHFW, DBT, BIRAC, DST, ICMR, and UGC for Maternal and Child Health in India. He is currently serving as a Chair – Covid-19 Working Group of National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI India) and Chair on various COVID-19 vaccine, drugs and diagnostic activities in India. He was the lead author for determining the Indian research priorities for MNCAH&N; these are adopted by ICMR for its investment agenda.

Prof Arora served as a Vice-Chair/Member of the WHO- Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) from 2010 to 2016 and South-East Asia Regional Immunization Technical Advisory Group (SEAR-ITAG). He served on three SAGE working groups which undertook GDG work. Currently, Prof Arora serving as a member of the WHO’s Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS); and WHO’s Scientific and Technical Advisory Group for Maternal, New-born, Child and Adolescent health and Nutrition (STAGE). He has also participated in GDG groups for GACVS for management of TTS post COVID 19 vaccination.

Dr. Rajendar Burki

PhD, Associate Vice President, (R&D) Biological E. Limited,

Dr. Rajendar Burki is currently working as AVP, at R&D, Biological E Limited. Heading Analytical, Glyco-Conjugation and Formulation development activities.

He received Ph.D. degree in Bioanalytical/Biological Chemistry from Tohoku University (Japan), followed by postdoctoral training at University of Alabama at Birmingham (USA).

Authored 10 patents, 20+ international publications and delivered talks in National and international conferences.

His expertise includes Analytical development and characterization, conjugation of biomolecules with markers and polysaccharides including process development of biopharmaceuticals.

Dr. Ashish Sahai

Additional Director, Production (viral vaccines) at Serum Institute of India Pvt.

Presently an Additional Director, Production (viral vaccines) at Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd., Pune, India. Trained in regulatory affairs at UMASS in Boston, USA and Chumakov Institute, Moscow, Russia. He is Ex.IITian and has a Doctorate in virology with more than 33 years of rich experience in various departments such as production, quality assurance, quality control in the Biotechnological industry and Research Institute. He has expertise in upstream processing of viral vaccines. He is specialized in purification of viral vaccines and has developed WHO approved Oral polio vaccine and Rabies vaccine at SIIPL.

Dr. Pragya D Yadav

M.Sc., Ph.D, FNAASc, FIVS, MNAMS, MNASc. Scientist 'F' and Group Leader, Maximum Containment Laboratory

Dr. Pragya Dhruv Yadav is Senior Scientist (Scientist-F) & Head of the Biosafety level-4 laboratory, Asia’s first state of the art facility to handle high-risk pathogens at ICMR-NIV, Pune. During COVID-19 Pandemic, she was involved in timely diagnostic support and development of point-of-care assays, Anti-SARS human IgG-antibody ELISA which was used widely in the country for diagnosis. The first three positive samples were identified from Kerala state having a travel history from Wuhan, China. She has expertise in Molecular biology, translational technology, novel pathogen detection, pre-clinical trials, biosafety and biocontainment. She has contributed significantly to shaping up India’s response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic by early isolation of the SARS-CoV-2 and fast tracking the development of the indigenous vaccine and demonstrating the efficacy of COVAXIN™ against the different SARS-CoV-2 variants. Besides this, she had also discovered many novel viruses and quickly provided containment responses and diagnosis for Nipah, Zika, CCHF, KFD and Monkeypox virus outbreaks in the country. She has developed many cost-effective diagnosis assays for CCHF, KFDV, and SARS-CoV-2, which are commercialized. Her work contributed significantly to the beginning of research on highly infectious viral pathogens that helped the prevention and control of outbreaks in India. She has discovered many viral etiological agents such as Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever, Nipah Zika, Tioman, Oya, Malsoor, Catque, Equine encephalosis and Kundal virus for the first time in India. She has led many outbreak investigations and research on CCHF, Kyasanur Forest Disease, Nipah, Zika, SARS-CoV-2 and Monkeypox. Her expertise in the field of BIorisk Management has been useful in strengthening the diagnostic laboratory network (VRDL) across the country. This has helped in preparedness against public health emergencies posed by Ebola, CCHF, Nipah, Yellow fever, SARS-CoV-2 and Monkeypox. Besides this, as a WHO consultant, she assisted in the evaluation and validation of Biosafety level-3 laboratories in Nepal and Bhutan.
She is recipient of many prestigious awards; amongst them few are Bharat Bhagya Vidhata Samman 2022 and ICMR awards [Major General Saheb Singh Sockey Award, Dr. T Ramchandra Rao Award], Dr. Pran Nath Chhuttani Oration Amritsar Award, Dr Vinod Kumar Bhargava Award from (National Academy of Medical Sciences) and Dr. K.M. Bhansali Oration award, felicitated by Governor of Maharashtra , National Academy of Sciences India (NASI) as COVID warrior. She is fellow of National Academy of Agricultural sciences and member of many National and International committee including ICMR, WHO, CEPI etc.

She has published more than 270 research papers in national and international journals with very high impact factors.

Dr Swapan K Jana

Director R&D & Manufacturing Serum Institute of India

Dr. Ajay Singh

Head - mRNA Department Gennova Biopharmaceuticals

Dr. Singh accomplished his doctorate in biochemistry from South Campus Delhi University, New Delhi, India. Dr. Singh is a proficient molecular biologist and biochemist with a core specialization in mRNA technology, cell/gene therapy, and antibody engineering. Dr. Singh is part of Gennova since 2013 and has widened his horizon by working on various domains. His heart of research at Gennova is mRNA vaccines, cell therapy, gene therapy, biotherapeutics, and antibody discovery. Dr. Singh is known for his notable contribution to the area of mRNA vaccine design, development, and production by creating keener genetic designs, and versatile and robust mRNA production process. From the first moments of the COVID-19 pandemic, he is working diligently for the development of the first fully indigenous mRNA vaccine in India - GEMCOVAC®-19 followed by an Omicron-specific heterologous booster - GEMCOVAC®-OM. His group of astute scientists has also made advances addressing infection of Varicella Zoster Virus, Human papillomavirus infection, Monkey Pox virus infection, Malaria, and Dengue. Currently, he is establishing the proof of concept of editing human genes to cure various genetic disorders. He is also developing mRNA-based personalized cancer vaccines targeting neo-antigens and mRNA-based CAR-T therapy for the treatment of refractory and relapsed cancer. Dr. Singh has played a significant role in laying the foundation pillar for the mRNA vaccine platform in the country and is working optimistically and diligently for serving mankind in the future.

Dr. Santosh Taur | MD, DM

Director Medical Affairs, Vaccines & Digital

Dr. Ravi P.N. Mishra

Principal Investigator & Group Leader

Vaccines and Biotherapeutics Process Development Group, CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, Sector 39A, Chandigarh.

Dr. Ravi P.N. Mishra is currently working as Principal Scientist and leading a group working on Vaccine and Biotherapeutics Process Development at the CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh, India. Dr. Mishra has more than 15 years of rich experience in industries and academic organizations in the domain of Vaccines and Biotherapeutics development. Dr. Mishra has obtained Ph.D. from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. He worked as Indo-French Post-Doctoral Fellow in the University of Montpellier/INRA, France and, at the Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA. He has several national and international patents and, research publications in the journal of international repute.

During his professional journey, Dr. Mishra served as Research Scientist in Novartis Vaccines Research Centre, Italy (Now GSK Vaccines) and worked on the project ‘Discovery and development protein based vaccines against Staphylococcus aureus’ from 2007-2013. From 2014-2018, Dr. Mishra worked as Dy. General Manager-R&D at Biological Evans Limited, Hyderabad and played a key role in Biological E.’s novel Typhoid Vaccine conjugate-TYPHIBEV development, that was launched in 2019 for human use.

In his current capacities as Principal Scientist, Dr. Mishra led the programme for the development next generation protein subunit based vaccine against COVID-19, that is in the advanced stage of preclinical process development. Dr. Mishra is also heading the project for setup of a facility of a national importance under the programme entitled, ‘Establishment of a National Repository of GMP compliant cell banks for Biopharmaceutical products (NRGCBIO) at CSIR-IMTECH, supported by National Biopharma Mission-BIRAC under Innovate in India (I3) Mission.

Neeraj Jain

Country Director – PATH India & Director – PATH South Asia

Neeraj leads the South Asia Region at PATH which comprises of India, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

Neeraj has over 30 years of extensive leadership experience in strengthening organizations. His strengths lie in business development, setting up new ventures, organizational development, ecosystem development, and strategic leadership for change management in organizations across Asia and Europe. With his leadership, PATH’s South Asia hub has tripled its annual portfolio, quadrupled its headcount, and expanded its presence into 4 new countries, and 23 Indian states.

Neeraj is in charge of managing the strategic direction, programmatic engagement and financial operations for a matrix of global and in-country programs implemented across PATH’s offices in South Asia to ensure that our innovative work has the maximum impact in accelerating health equity so all people and communities can thrive. Over the last few years, the South Asia region has witnessed great progress in public health due to political & donor support. Neeraj’s current focus at PATH is to partner with the governments and partners for Health systems strengthening, especially Primary health care, and mobilize PATH’s technical assistance and on-ground operations for the same.

Prior to joining PATH, Neeraj led WaterAid India through a dynamic phase of transition as its Chief Executive. He was also instrumental in the setup of the India Sanitation Coalition as part of the governing committee and headed the engagement with central and state governments’ task force for them. The coalition, launched in June 2015, is leading the sanitation conversations in India by bringing together organizations and individuals to find sustainable solutions for sanitation.

Prior to WaterAid India, Neeraj was associated with the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, where he brought his extensive experience from the corporate sector to work for child development, with a focus on nutrition, early learning, and child survival in the perinatal period. He was also heading the Asia region for Vestergaard Frandsen, a Swiss company that manufactures water purifiers and insecticidal mosquito nets, primarily aimed at increasing the health impact against vector- and water-borne diseases.

Neeraj is a member of CII’s Nutrition and Public Health committees where he engages with industry leaders on the need for greater investments in India’s public health systems. He is also member at the Global Learning Collaborative for Health Systems Resilience (GLC4HSR) and member of the Management committee of the Food Fortification Resource Centre (FSSAI). Neeraj is on the Boards of the non-profit organizations - Digital Green, Social Alpha and Arogya World. He is also a member on multiple advisory boards of CURE, Ocimum Partners Private Equity and The Pravin Agarwal Foundation (TPAF) organizations working in the development sector. He is also on the committee of the India Ssnitation Coalition.

Neeraj completed his MBA with majors in finance & strategy from the Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi and holds a bachelor’s degree in business from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Dr Arun Kumar

Preclinical Vaccines Development Lead Preclinical Vaccines Development Lead CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations)

Dr. Arun Kumar is the Preclinical Vaccines Development Lead at the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Oslo, Norway. The main objective of CEPI is to accelerate the development of vaccines against emerging/re-emerging infectious diseases and enable access to these vaccines for people during outbreaks. Dr. Kumar previously held positions at the GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines & Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, where he led vaccine development programs based on the mRNA technology. At CEPI, Dr. Kumar is leading programs focusing on mRNA innovations, preclinical vaccine development and co-leading CEPI Centralized Global Laboratory Network. Dr. Kumar holds a Ph.D. in Viral Immunology and Infectious diseases from the University of Helsinki, Finland.

Dr Sudeep Kumar

Sr VP Biological E Ltd

Dr Sudeep Kumar did his Post Doc in Biotech from Valencia. He has more than 20 years of experience in Biopharma from Large scale fermentation based product to recombinant therapeutic proteins, Vaccines and Diagnostic kit. He has vast experience from R&D to commercialization of recombinant proteins, Vaccines and Diagnostic kit with good understanding of regulatory requirement. He has worked from R&D to tech transfer and manufacturing of different molecule. During his tenure he was involved in dealing with different regulatory agencies for approval and faced WHO, USFDA and other regulatory audits. He also actively involved with clinical research team for Preclinical and clinical trials of recombinant proteins and vaccine. He developed and commercialized many recombinant proteins, vaccines and rapid diagnostic kit. He established the VLP technology platform for different vaccine in India in collaboration with Novavax and taken the approval for this new concept technology. He is actively involved in the development of novel therapeutic protein for cancer therapy. He has worked with Ranbaxy, Cadila pharma, Unichem and now at present he is working as Senior Vice president at Biological E, Hyderabad.

Ramesh Matur

PhD, Senior Vice President and Head, Vaccines R&D Division

Biological E Ltd

Ramesh Matur has been heading Vaccines R&D Division since 2013 at Biological E Ltd, Hyderabad. Vaccines R&D Division comprises all scientific functions for bacterial, viral and subunit recombinant vaccines development from ideation to proof of concept, manufacturing process development on different platforms, analytical development, and animal studies for vaccine immunogenicity, all the way to clinical Phase3 studies. Clinical Development function is part of R&D Division. A highly talented, vibrant, strong scientific team with cross functional expertise was established. The Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine PCV14 received regulatory and marketing approval in December 2022. The next gen version PCV24 was developed and completed the Phase1 safety study in adults. Other viral vaccines such as Hepatitis A, Measles, Human Papilloma Virus vaccine (HPV), and Human Polyoma Virus Vaccine (HPyV) are in development. BioE R&D Division also created a team to develop mRNA platform- based vaccines for selected infectious diseases. Prior to joining BioE, Dr. Matur worked for Wyeth at Pearl River, NY (now Pfizer) in the USA, DuPont India, and led vaccines R&D at Indian Immunologicals Ltd. He has 25 research publications, filed 20 patents of which 7 were globally granted and other applications are under review in multiple countries. Dr. Matur has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry & M.Sc. in Microbiology. He pursued his postdoctoral research at Michigan State University and at The Ohio State University Biotechnology Centre.

Syed S Ahmed

Director & CEO Techinvention

Sanjay Dwivedi

Head Quality Control at Sanofi Healthcare India Pvt Ltd

Nitin Jain

Sr General Manager & Division Head - Zydus Lifesciences limited (Vaxxicare)

Profile Nitin Jain is a commercial leader with over 18 years of experience across global & regional markets in diverse therapeutic segments, with a proven track record of working across complex multi-cultural environments and driving business results. His competitive attitude, focused planning, and leadership capabilities make him a strategic thinker with strong cross-functional operational expertise which is further strengthened by his ability to leverage technology to build a highly performing team.

Having started in the Indian pharmaceutical market with an early commercial lead exposure of managing a business unit, Nitin moved to Ranbaxy Africa where he led an entry project in African countries working with local partners at the same time building a new portfolio in countries like Kenya, Ivory Coast & Senegal. Subsequently strengthened marketing capabilities as a member of regional/global marketing team in AstraZeneca, developed expertise in launches, new business set up, led turnaround of an established business in Abbott neuropsychiatry segment by growing it faster than market. Nitin moved on to take sales responsibility in Abbott for an entirely new segment of Vaccines and delivered outstanding results. He is now spearheading the Zydus Vaccine business (with the objective to improve immunization rates across the globe) and Equals Two Business ( focusing on making skin care a priority for mothers and babies). His emphasis has been on building a sustainable patient care model by offering convenient healthcare access & integrating the entire healthcare value chain to achieve strategic business goals.

Dr. Rajan Sriraman

Research Director Reliance Life Science

Dr. Sahil Parmar

Senior Project GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance Immunization division - Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Rajesh Kumar Chopra

Vice President - Manufacturing Excellence (Vaccine Drug Substance & Drug Product) Site Head Vaccine, Panacea Biotec Ltd.

Dr Arindam Ray

India Country Lead, Immunization and Surveillance, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Arindam Ray is a medical epidemiologist with about 30 years of experience in public health management particularly in urban health care, population studies, disease surveillance and immunization. Following his tenure under Government of West Bengal, he joined World Health Organization in 2000. He was National Monitoring and Evaluation Focal Person at WHO country office, India before joining Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2014. At the Foundation, India office he looks after new vaccine initiatives, immunization systems, disease surveillance and modelling, Gavi projects and polio legacy work. He represents the Foundation at the global urban immunization workgroup, GAVI Asia-Pacific Regional Work Group, WHO SEAR RITAG, India Expert Committees on Rota Viral Vaccine, Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine, HPV vaccine, Typhoid conjugate vaccine and Polio & MR India Expert Advisory Groups.

Dr. Raj K. Shirumalla

Mission Director, Program Management Unit - National Biopharma Mission, BIRAC

Rajendra Vidwans

Technical Consultant, Ami Polymer Pvt Ltd

Rajendra Lingala

Vice President & Head R & D, Indian Immunologicals Limited

Uma SinhaDatta (Ph.D)

Fast Trak Global Training Manager & India Leader, Cytiva

Dr Uma is a Ph.D from IIT Kharagpur and Post Doc from the University of Kansas Medical Centre, USA. After returning to India in 2008 she joined the company as a senior scientist (cell biologist) eventually becoming experts in SPR (Biacore) and High content analysis. During this time Dr. Uma was involved in executing and managing multiple projects and trainings customers. In 2016 she became the Global Fast Trak Training Leader, leading all initiatives on upstream and downstream bioprocessing trainings to ensure continuous knowledge flow to the Biopharmaceutical industries. In 2018 she took up an additional responsibility to head the Fast Trak India in Bangalore. Dr. Uma and her team of expert process development scientists work with various biopharmaceutical companies to help them in their process development activities.

Rohit Chakravorty

Regional Application Manager (Life Sciences) APAC Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions

Rohit is designated as "Application Manager- Life Sciences: APAC" with Veolia WTS (erstwhile SUEZ Water Technologies and Solutions and prior to it GE Water- Analytical Instruments) responsible for providing application support in APAC (Asia-Pacific) region for the Sievers product line. He is responsible for helping the pharmaceutical industry become familiar with Bacterial Endotoxin, Bioburden and TOC applications (notably in cleaning validation and Real-Time-Release-Testing) of pharmaceutical water. Rohit is experienced in guiding customers in successful transitions from conventional BET methods to sophisticated Kinetic Chromogenic methods (BET) and HPLC to TOC for cleaning validation (CV).

Prior to joining Veolia/GE/SUEZ, Rohit was an Application Specialist for India and SAARC with Sysmex Asia Pacific, and a Research Assistant at Sun Pharmaceuticals- R&D Biotechnology in India handling various types of scientific instrumentation. Rohit holds a Masters in Biotechnology (Gold Medalist) from Padmashree Dr. D.Y. Patil University in India.

Dr. Tathagata Mukherjee

General Manager – Business Development Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Ltd

A core scientist by training and with leadership and communications expertise, Dr. Tathagata Mukherjee combines the art of business with the technology of science in Gennova. Dr. Tathagata Mukherjee currently heads the Business Development & Communications division at Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Limited. He also leads the Grant Management team and initiates technical collaborations.
Before taking up this position, he was the head of the Formulation Development Laboratory, where he developed various liposomal-based formulations and pioneered chemical biology research. He holds a patent on developing a lyophilized composition of pegaspargase, a drug that caters to the need for orphan diseases. Before joining Gennova in 2013, he was at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, USA, where he was a visiting fellow doing post-doctoral research in the field of Tuberculosis.

A graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, Dr. Tathagata Mukherjee received his PhD from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA, in 2009 in Chemical Biology. During doctoral and post-doctoral stints, he has published many peer-reviewed research articles, book chapters, and review articles.

Dr. Smita Singhnaia

Consultant Pharmaceutical & Vaccine Industry

Dr. Smita Singhnaia is self employed consultant to Bio-Pharmaceutical Industry and Academia having vast experience in the field more than 30 years at senior management positions majorly to drive R&D initiatives, regulatory compliances, clinical trials operations, intellectual property management, facilitating industry academia collaborations, facilitating government funding of projects. Dr. Smita has worked at Bharat Biotech International Ltd., Zydus Cadila, Biomab/Mabpharma, Actis Biologics, Bharat Serum and Vaccines etc. heading Regulatory Affairs, Clinical Operations and IPR departments. She has international and national publications in scientific journals of repute and co-inventorship in industry patents internationally.

Dr. Sridhar Kottakota

Ph.D.Vice President - R&D Laurus Bio

Dr. Sridhar Kottakota is a biotechnologist having rich experience in Biopharmaceutical programs for several multinational biopharmaceutical companies spanning over 30 years. He is Vice President- R&D Biologics division of Laurus Bio – a global CDMO and CMO company, a part of Laurus Labs. Dr. Sridhar Kottakota was directly involved in the development of several recombinant biologicals and Vaccines to its commercialization. Previously, Dr. Sridhar handled wide-ranging operations during his tenure in Research and Development / Head of Manufacturing for GMP clinical bulk manufacturing and late-stage CMC processes development for several mammalian and microbial products. Dr. Sridhar holds the experience of creating an entire value chain from concept to their commercialization in India and other markets - for several Biosimilars, Vaccines; and some of which were approved in Japan, EU and US. Dr. Sridhar is passionate about new technologies into viable next-generation automated, digitalized, integrated and single use bioprocess solutions.

Dr. Bajarang Kumbhar

Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences NMIMS University Mumbai

Dr. Bajarang Kumbhar is a computational structural biologist. Dr. Kumbhar holds the position of an assistant professor at NMIMS University, Mumbai. He completed his postdoctoral training at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India. Driven by an exceptional academic and research trajectory, he has ascended to a leadership role, spearheading progress in vaccine design, anticancer drugs, and the innovative development of Chimeric Antigen Receptors (CARs) for cancer immunotherapy.

At present, Dr. Kumbhar's team is engaged in a transformative endeavor: the computational design of chimeric antigen receptors against the leukaemia and its experimental validations. In addition, designing the vaccines targeting various viruses using an Immunoinformatics approach, which includes the multi-epitope vaccine design, and its interactions with TLR receptors. He is also involved in structure-based anti-mitotic drug discovery using machine learning and molecular modeling approach.

With a portfolio boasting over 35 esteemed international publications in international journals like Nature Communications, Vaccines, European Journal of Endocrinology, Immunobiology, Scientific Reports, Gene, and more., Dr. Kumbhar possesses a profound mastery of computer modeling techniques and an aptitude for experimental validation. His expertise spans the spectrum from vaccine development using protein engineering and drug design, solidifying his pivotal role at the crossroads of biology and computational science.

Dr. Bajarang Kumbhar's role in computational structural biology has left an indelible impact on the field. His relentless dedication to pioneering solutions and visionary goals is a beacon of hope in the ongoing fight against cancer, shaping the scientific landscape with an enduring legacy.

Ramesh Vyasan

Lead -Technical Sales Specialist Single- Use Technologies Division Bioproduction Group Thermo Fisher Scientific

Ramesh Vyasan is currently Lead -Technical Sales Specialist Single- Use Technologies Division in the Bioproduction Group of Thermo Fisher Scientific . Ramesh Vyasan has a Master of Science in Life Sciences from Bharathidasan University – Trichy from the Sate of Tamil Nadu .

Ramesh Vyasan been in the Life Sciences industry for over 20 years. Prior to Joining Thermo Fisher, Ramesh worked as Microbiologist & Bioprocess Specialist for (Spic Limited & Sartorius Stedim) in the roles of increasing responsibility, most recently serving as Sr. Application specialist for 3M India Limited, before leaving to Join Thermo Fisher in September 2013.

Dr. Jiten Pant

PhD, MEng CEO and CSO OmniBRx Biotechnologies Inc. USA

Dr. Jiten Pant is the founding CEO and CSO of OmniBRx Biotechnologies Inc., based in Raleigh North Carolina, USA.

He has 15 years of experience in different fields of Life Sciences including Bioprocessing, C&GT, Biomedical Devices, Tissue Engineering, Microfluidics and Therapeutic Proteins.

He received his PhD from the University of Georgia (Valedictorian), Postdoctoral training from the University of Michigan and Executive Education from MIT-Sloan.

He has taken critical roles at reputed life science companies such as Biocon (India), Innoveta Biomedical, US (PI at NIH and CDC funded SBIRs) and Caron Products, US.

Prior to joining OmniBRx USA, he was working as the Global Director of Research and Innovation at Caron Products (OH, USA) leading their New Product Development, NPI and strategic M&A for product portfolio expansion. Dr. Pant has published 23 research articles, 7 USPTO patents, 1 book chapter, contributed to 3 FDA approved biologics (breast cancer, RA, and psoriasis) and has been cited around the world (h index =14). Recipient of 35 national and international awards, his work has received widespread acclaim worldwide including acknowledgement from former CDC Director, Dr. Redfield.

Ravindra Patel

Founder & CTO, OmniBRx Biotechnologies Pvt Ltd

Ravindra founded OmniBRx Biotechnologies Pvt Ltd. in the year 2016 after spending about decade in the biopharma industry. As Chief technical officer, he is the driving force behind all the new ideas and innovations at OmniBRx. His vision is to bring easy-to-use, cost-effective, and efficient bioprocessing technologies to the global market.

He has always been fascinated by the field of bioprocessing and his vast work experiences in biotech field including working as a bioprocess scientist at Reliance Life science, Synergy International and Zydus Cadila healthcare has helped him identify many potential challenges that can be solved using innovative bioprocessing solutions that are being developed at OmniBRx.

He served the industry with patented single use bioreactor systems which are linearly scalable, efficient and cost effective.

Dr Navneet Bichha

MD, MPH (WHO TDR Fellow in Implementation Research)

Annu Uppal

PhD, Associate Scientific Affairs Director, USP-India

Annu Uppal is currently working as Associate Director- Scientific Affairs at United States Pharmacopeia (USP)-India. In her role, she is leading the USP’s initiative of Knowledge hub for Multi Attribute Methods (MAM), scientific engagement activities and external collaborations. She is also an approved faculty for USP Education programs and regularly conducts various webinar and education programs.

Annu is core mass spectrometric expert with >15 years of experience in analytical method development, validation, product characterization, impurity profiling, glycan analysis. Before joining USP, she was leading the mass spectrometric applications globally for monoclonal antibodies & other biotherapeutics at SCIEX. Annu was instrumental in setting basic and advanced mass spectrometry-based workflows like glycan profiling, disulfide linkages elucidation, multi attribute methodology, native mode analysis and host cell protein analysis for therapeutic antibodies. She also has expertise in the analysis of peptides, Metabolites, Lipids, Biomarker Discovery/Verification workflows. Annu has more than 30 research papers and book chapters in peer reviewed journals. She has presented in several National and International Conferences as Invited speaker.

Anand Khedkar

Director Sekkei Bio

Anand Khedkar, a pioneering biotech entrepreneur and Co-Founder of Sekkei Bio. With an impressive career, he led groundbreaking projects such as the development of Insulin Tregopil at Biocon and scaling up viral vector technology for Covid vaccines at Stelis Biopharma. Anand holds a Ph.D. in protein formulation from Deakin University and a Master's degree from ICT.

Anand's expertise goes beyond scientific innovation; he is also a skilled team builder and leader. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated an exceptional ability to assemble and lead multidisciplinary teams, fostering a collaborative and dynamic work environment. His leadership style emphasizes empowerment, encouraging his colleagues to think creatively and take ownership of their projects, resulting in remarkable outcomes and achievements.

of process development and scale-up, ensuring seamless operations and manufacturing capabilities. His dedication to precision and efficiency has led to the creation of cutting-edge solutions that push the boundaries of biotechnology.

With his passion for innovation and a highly skilled team by his side, he continues to drive Sekkei Bio towards pioneering breakthroughs in immunogen design optimization and the development of transformative vaccines for both human and animal health.

Arun Chandru

Co-Founder Pandorum Technologies

Arun Chandru is co-founder of Pandorum Technologies, a tissue engineering and regenerative medicine company. He comes from an academic research background in solid rocket propulsion, advanced manufacturing, and technical management, and has received gold medal in 2012 for best Master's research thesis in Aerospace engineering Department at the Indian Institute of Science. Chandru was featured in the Forbes Asia ‘30under30’ Healthcare and Science list of 2016.

Founded in 2011 by academic entrepreneurs, Pandorum Technologies is a tissue engineering and regenerative medicine company that employs translational principles of bioengineering to develop therapeutics for unmet clinical needs. Corneal opacity is one of the major causes of blindness worldwide, with millions waiting for donor tissues against odds. Pandorum’s lab-made ‘Liquid Cornea’- KuragenX and ‘Bioengineered Cornea’ induces and supports transparent regeneration of one's own cornea and restores vision, as demonstrated in diverse animal studies. The company is presently conducting IND-enabling preclinical studies, and is planning for human studies in 2024, after due regulatory approvals. Pandorum is supported by the Government of India and marquee investors, and has received notable awards. The company has labs in Bangalore, India, and San Carlos CA, USA, and works with partners globally. For more information: www.pandorum.com

Dr Satyabrata Routray

Director Infectious Disease PATH

Dr Satyabrata Routray is an epidemiologist with a MD in Social & Preventive Medicine, a public health professional for over 25 years, with a career spanning across state Govt. health system, academic institutions, World Health Organization and international NGO. At present he is the Director Infectious Diseases at PATH, providing project oversight for NTDs, Malaria, TB, HIV, Immunization across south Asian countries of Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and Sri Lanka, along with strategic technical assistance across selected states in India for elimination of Visceral Leishmaniasis, Lymphatic Filariasis, Malaria, TB and Control of Dengue-Chikungunya and other vector borne diseases, including AES management and JE vaccination campaign, through Govt.-Donor-Partner coordination.

Before joining PATH, he was the National Measles Focal Person for WHO Country Office-India and supported Polio Eradication, Measles Elimination, vaccine preventable diseases (VPD) surveillance and implementing immunization programs, including mass vaccination (SIA) campaigns across the country.

Suresh Pattathil

President - OPPI

Manish Pathania

Application Specialist - Upstream Single Use Solutions, Cytiva

Manish has done Engineering in Biotechnology from Visvesvaraya Technological University. He possesses technical expertise over 8+ years in the field of Upstream process. He started his career in 2015 with Kemwell Biopharma in Upstream Production, scaling up MAbs process up to 2000L in SS bioreactor. He has been associated with Sartorius India for over 4.5 years as a Manager for Cell culture and Bioreactor working on characterization of bioreactors i.e., Glass, SS, SU, ambr from Sartorius portfolio and worked on sensor technology for optimizing bioprocess. He has been associated with Cytiva as Field application specialist for Upstream single Use technology from 2021. He has been engaged in providing customer support and application on various projects using Xcellerex / WAVE products by Cytiva. He has been working closely with major biopharmaceutical industry to optimize their process and help them in scaling up the process by providing right insight on scale up strategy.