Dr. R Ananthanarayanan takes over as CEO and MD of Strides Pharma from founder Arun Kumar

The announcement was made on January 8 by the companys Board of Directors.

Dr. R Ananthanarayanan will succeed Arun Kumar, founder, and the incumbent CEO & MD who will transition his active responsibilities at Strides by the financial year ending March 31, 2020, and will step into a strategic role as Chairman of the Board with effect from April 1, 2020.

Dr Ananthanarayanan brings with him over three decades of top pedigree global pharmaceutical experience across both the technical and commercial functions.

Until recently, he was the Global Chief Operating Officer at Cipla Limited, where he was responsible for the company’s generics business in regulated markets and branded generics in emerging markets.

He was also driving their API business, biosimilars, complex drug-device combinations, including 505(b)(2) products.

Prior to Cipla,Dr Ananthanarayanan was the President & 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.

He is a Graduate in Pharmaceutical Sciences and earned his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Technology from the University of Mumbai, India.

He has also been a member of the Board of Advisors at the School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at Fairleigh Dickinson University, New Jersey.

Ananth’s appointment at Strides comes at the time when the company has concluded its reset strategy to drive profitable future growth on the back of a stronger balance sheet.

Strides' Board believes that Dr Ananthanarayanan's exceptional global techno-commercial experience and leadership stature in managing the P&Ls of large global pharmaceutical companies will multiply the company’s commitment to creating perpetual value for all its stakeholders.

Expressing confidence in the Board’s choice , Arun Kumar, said, “Having founded Strides and led the company for close to 30 years, I believe the time is right for me to step aside and have Ananth lead it to greater heights. Ananth brings in the right balance of technical and commercial expertise, and I am confident that Strides will significantly benefit from his leadership experience, industry perspective, technical knowledge, and business acumen. As he takes on the mantle of Strides, I will now move to a more strategic role as the Chairman of the Board and will dedicate time to Strides' newly announced investments in Biotech and sterile injectables.”

Dr. R Ananthanarayanan,the new CEO & MD of Strides, said, “It's my privilege and honor to take over as the CEO &MD of Strides, and I would like to appreciate the confidence reposed in me by Arun and the Board. These are exciting times for Strides, and I look forward to partner with all the global colleagues to ensure successful realization of the Strides' strategic objectives while ensuring that we consistently deliver quality medicines to all our patients globally.”

Strides, listed on the BSE Limited and National Stock Exchange of India Limited, is a global pharmaceutical company headquartered in Bangalore, India. 

It mainly operates in the regulated markets and has an “in Africa for Africa” strategy along with an institutional business to service donor-funded markets.

The company’s global manufacturing sites are in Bangalore, Pondicherry and Chennai (India), Singapore, Milan (Italy), Nairobi (Kenya), and Florida (US).