Mr. Ajay Kumar Pandey is an experienced pharmaceutical leader with a strong track record in the Chronic therapies includes domain of Oncology, Critical Care, Biosimilars space as well as Medtech (B2B), having built a distinguished career across leading pharmaceutical organizations in India and global markets. His professional journey spans Zydus, Dr. Reddy’s, Piramal, Abbott, Mylan-Viatris, and Boston IVY, giving him broad industry exposure and extensive experience across the pharmaceutical and Oncology landscape.

As Business Unit Head – Oncology at Celon Laboratories, Mr.Ajay leads the strategic development and growth of the company’s oncology business. In his leadership role, he is focused on strengthening the oncology portfolio, expanding market opportunities, building strong engagement with healthcare professionals, and advancing Celon’s commitment to improving access to quality cancer care.

Prior to joining Celon Laboratories, held roles across several prominent pharmaceutical organizations, gaining diverse experience in Chronic Therapies like Oncology & Critical Care, vast experience of managing Biologics and Biosimilars from the pharmaceutical industry in India as well Global In licensed products. His association with leading organizations such as Zydus, Dr. Reddy’s, Piramal, Abbott, Mylan, Viatris, and Boston IVY have given him a broad understanding of the evolving Chronic therapies Including Oncology market, customer needs, and business opportunities in healthcare space.

With a strong focus on oncology and business leadership, he continues to drive the growth of Celon Laboratories’ Oncology business, supporting strategic initiatives aimed at expanding commercializing newer and innovative products to market presence, strengthening customer engagement, and delivering differentiated solutions that contribute to better access to cancer care with patient centricity.

Mr. Ravi Kumar Upputhalla is a seasoned corporate governance and compliance professional with over 15 years of experience in legal, compliance, and secretarial functions.

He currently serves as Director & Head of Ethics, Risk, and Compliance at Celon Laboratories Private Limited, where he leads organization-wide initiatives in business integrity, regulatory compliance and internal controls. He plays a pivotal role in strengthening governance frameworks and ensuring adherence to global compliance standards.

Prior to this, Mr. Ravi Kumar Upputhalla served as Head Company Secretary at Hetero Drugs Limited, where he oversaw secretarial compliance across a large group of domestic and international entities. His experience includes M&A transactions, due diligence, FEMA/RBI compliance, and complex corporate structuring. He has also held positions with NCC Urban Infrastructure Limited and SEW Infrastructure Limited, gaining extensive exposure to listed company compliance, board governance, and stakeholder management.

Mr. Ravi Kumar Upputhalla is a qualified Company Secretary (ICSI) and holds a B.Tech degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering, along with a Post Graduate Program in Management from Manipal. He is also a registered member of the Independent Directors’ Databank (IICA, MCA) and a certified ISO 27001 Lead Auditor.

His areas of expertise include:

• Corporate Governance & Board Advisory
• Legal & Regulatory Compliance
• Risk Management & Internal Audit
• Mergers & Acquisitions, Due Diligence
• Anti-Bribery & Ethics Frameworks
• Strategic Compliance Transformation

Mr. Karthik Muralidharan is a finance leader and Chartered Accountant with over 18 years of experience in financial planning and analysis, budgeting, cost optimization, business partnering, and operational finance within the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry. He brings strong expertise in translating financial insights into business decisions, improving profitability, strengthening financial controls, and supporting sustainable business growth.

As Director of Finance at Celon Laboratories, Mr. Karthik Muralidharan supports the organization’s financial strategy and business performance, with a focus on strengthening financial discipline, improving profitability, optimizing working capital, and enabling informed decision-making across the business. His role brings together financial planning, performance management, cost governance, and cross-functional business partnering.

Prior to joining Celon Laboratories, Mr. Muralidharan spent more than 15 years across various finance leadership roles within Piramal Pharma and Piramal Enterprises, including Senior General Manager – Finance, Site Finance Head, and Site Finance Controller. His experience includes leading finance teams, managing site P&Ls, driving budgeting and long-range planning, supporting growth and capital expenditure decisions, strengthening cost governance, and managing working capital. At Piramal Pharma, he also contributed to business performance improvement, with revenues and profitability doubling over a two-year period at the site level.

His earlier experience includes financial integration of Ash Stevens Inc. in the United States following its acquisition by Piramal Pharma, as well as responsibility for consolidated financial reporting across a group with more than 50 subsidiaries. His experience across India and the US has given him a broad understanding of financial integration, reporting, business transformation, and operational finance within complex pharmaceutical organizations.

Mr. Karthik Muralidharan is a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) and has completed the CFO Programme at the Indian School of Business. He has also completed the Chartered Management Accountant qualification through CIMA, where he achieved the 5th rank worldwide in the Enterprise Management paper at the Management Level examination.

With a strong combination of financial expertise, pharmaceutical industry experience, and business partnership capabilities, Mr. Muralidharan contributes to strengthening Celon Laboratories’ financial performance and supporting the organization’s broader growth objectives.

Mr.Himal P. Desai is a global supply chain and operations leader with over 22 years of experience across the pharmaceutical, API, CRDMO, biotechnology, healthcare, and specialty chemicals sectors. Throughout his career, he has led complex supply chain transformations, strengthened operational resilience, improved capital efficiency, and enabled organizations to scale effectively across evolving and highly regulated global markets.

As Chief Supply Chain Officer at Celon Laboratories, Mr.Himal P. Desai is responsible for shaping and strengthening the company’s end-to-end supply chain strategy. His mandate focuses on building a resilient, digitally enabled, and agile supply chain that supports business growth while improving operational efficiency, ensuring regulatory compliance, managing risk, and strengthening cost competitiveness.

Over the course of his career, Mr.Himal P. Desai has delivered significant and measurable operational impact. He has led global teams of more than 350 professionals across India, Canada, the US, and the UK. His achievements include unlocking $18 million in working capital within 22 days, reducing inventory by $40 million without affecting service levels, and delivering more than $1.2 million in annual savings through strategic sourcing and global contract restructuring. He has also built a COVID-19 vaccine supply chain from the ground up, supporting the distribution of Covishield, Covaxin, and Sputnik with a zero-failure distribution record.

Beyond operational leadership, Mr.Himal P. Desai brings a strong governance and strategic perspective as an IICA Certified Independent Director. His expertise spans operational risk, supply chain cybersecurity, third-party risk, regulatory compliance, ESG, and corporate governance. Combining hands-on execution with digital transformation capabilities across SAP S/4HANA, Python, AI/ML, and Industry 4.0, he brings a distinctive balance of operational excellence, technology, capital efficiency, and board-level strategic thinking to the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry.

Awards & Recognition

• Excellence in Supply Chain & Logistics Award – Pharma CPHI, India 2015
• Key contributor in bringing Excellence in Supply Chain & Logistics at Piramal Enterprises Ltd.

Surya Singh Somvanshi is an experienced Information Technology leader with over 17 years of experience across IT infrastructure, Cybersecurity, enterprise systems, network operations, IT service management, and technology operations. His career spans pharmaceutical and healthcare organizations, with extensive experience in managing critical IT environments and supporting technology-enabled business operations.

As Head – IT Infrastructure & Security Operations at Celon Laboratories, Mr. Somvanshi is responsible for strengthening the organization’s IT infrastructure, security operations, enterprise technology environment, and IT service capabilities. His role focuses on ensuring reliable and secure technology operations, strengthening information security, supporting business continuity, and enabling robust IT systems across the organization.

Prior to his current leadership role at Celon Laboratories, Mr. Somvanshi served as IT Manager at Celon Laboratories, where he was involved in IT operations and infrastructure management. Before joining Celon, he held IT leadership and infrastructure roles at API Holdings and GHC Drugs and Pharmaceuticals, with responsibilities spanning IT operations, infrastructure management, network and systems administration, ERP implementation, and technology support.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Somvanshi spent more than five years with Akums Drugs & Pharmaceuticals as Assistant IT Manager, where his responsibilities included enterprise network operations, infrastructure management, data centre operations, server and storage management, disaster recovery, backup systems, and pharmaceutical R&D IT operations. His experience also includes supporting and managing technology infrastructure for critical laboratory systems and instruments, including HPLC, UPLC, GC, FTIR, DSC, stability chambers, and other analytical systems.

His broader technical expertise covers SAP infrastructure and operations, Microsoft 365 administration, cloud and network environments, enterprise security, data centre operations, ERP systems, endpoint security, disaster recovery, and IT process automation. He also brings experience working within regulated pharmaceutical environments, including 21 CFR and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) requirements.

With extensive experience at the intersection of technology, infrastructure, cybersecurity, and pharmaceutical operations, Mr. Somvanshi contributes to strengthening Celon Laboratories’ digital and technology foundation. His leadership is focused on building secure, reliable, and scalable IT infrastructure while enabling business continuity, operational efficiency, and technology-driven growth across the organization.

Mr. Jyoti Saroop Bhatia is a distinguished pharmaceutical sales and marketing leader with an illustrious 32-year career spanning Hepatology, Gastroenterology, Critical Care, Virology, Oncology, HIV, Cardiology and Dermatology. Across a career marked by consistent excellence, he has built and steered high-performing teams exceeding 120 professionals, engineered sustained business growth, unlocked new market opportunities, and commanded large, complex commercial portfolios across diverse therapeutic areas.

As General Manager – Sales & Marketing and Business Unit Head at Celon Laboratories, Mr. Bhatia leads the company’s Critical Care business, with stewardship of a ₹52 crore P&L and a formidable workforce of 2 Sales Managers, 10 Regional Business Managers, and 62 Area Business Managers. He is driving the growth and transformation of Celon’s Critical Care franchise by sharpening sales execution, expanding distribution reach, revitalising brand equity, strengthening key hospital-chain relationships, and building sustainable, high-margin growth across the portfolio.

Prior to joining Celon Laboratories, Mr. Bhatia spent over a decade with Mylan Pharmaceuticals, a Viatris company, where he rose from Sales Manager to Business Unit Head – Virology. During this remarkable tenure, he managed P&Ls of up to ₹107 crore and led teams of more than 120 professionals across Hepatology, HIV, Cosmo Derma, and Access Markets. He built the Hepato Care business from the ground up in North India, scaling it to ₹70 crore in revenue, and went on to expand his leadership across Critical Care, Oncology, Hepatitis C, Transplant, and Gastroenterology.

Earlier in his career with MSD Pharmaceuticals and Schering-Plough/Fulford India, Mr. Bhatia delivered exceptional commercial growth, most notably scaling a Critical Care business from ₹3 lakh to ₹42 lakh in monthly revenue within just four transformative years. He was a valued contributor to strategic initiatives including the Noxafil Brand Forum, the Antibiotic Stewardship Program in Punjab, and the Product Advisory Board. His broader career achievements include spearheading Project UPBEAT — an innovative micro-market marketing initiative — mentoring numerous high-potential professionals into senior leadership roles, and leading transformation and business growth initiatives across pharmaceutical markets.

Mr. Jyoti Saroop Bhatia has been recognised with numerous accolades throughout his career, including the President’s Award at Mylan (2019), the MD Club Platinum Award at MSD (2012), the Company President Award at MSD (2010), and multiple Sales Excellence Awards (2015, 2016, 2017) and Star Performance Awards (1995, 1996, 2001). He has also been a proud member of the President’s Award Club, earning three international incentive trips in recognition of his top-tier sales performance, and was honoured as the Best Performing Vertical (2018) and Best Marketing Strategy (BRIDION) award recipient.

A Bachelor of Science (Medical) graduate from DAV College, Jalandhar, Mr. Jyoti Saroop Bhatia brings extensive expertise in sales and marketing leadership, P&L management, market development, customer engagement, and team building to Celon Laboratories. His leadership is firmly focused on strengthening and expanding Celon’s Critical Care business, cultivating high-performing teams, deepening market presence, and delivering sustainable, profitable growth for the organisation.

Mr. Rahul Padhye serves as Managing Director of Celon Laboratories, where he leads the company’s overall strategy, business growth, profitability, and organizational transformation. With more than three decades of experience in the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry, he brings extensive expertise across business leadership, strategy, corporate development, business development and licensing, M&A, portfolio management, and commercial growth.

Prior to joining Celon Laboratories, Mr. Padhye held senior leadership positions at Geno Pharmaceuticals, Zentiva, Cipla, and Reliance Life Sciences. His experience spans global and domestic business development, in-licensing and out-licensing, CDMO partnerships, biosimilars, specialty pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, and strategic collaborations across developed and emerging markets. Over the course of his career, he has worked across multiple areas of the pharmaceutical value chain, combining strategic thinking with strong commercial and operational understanding.

Mr. Rahul Padhye has extensive experience in developing and executing growth strategies and leading complex business transactions. His career includes acquisitions, divestitures, strategic investments, and licensing transactions across North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, MENA, and other markets, with significant experience in biosimilars and generic pharmaceuticals. This experience has enabled him to build strong partnerships, identify new growth opportunities, and navigate complex business environments across the pharmaceutical and life sciences sectors.

Mr. Rahul Padhye holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering and a Post Graduate Diploma in Investment Studies from the University of Mumbai. He has completed an Executive Management Program at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore and was a Visiting Research Fellow at Stanford University, where his research focused on biopharmaceutical manufacturing strategies.

With a broad perspective spanning strategy, business development, investments, partnerships, and pharmaceutical operations, Mr. Padhye brings a strong combination of strategic leadership and industry experience to Celon Laboratories. As Managing Director, he is focused on strengthening the company’s domestic and global presence, driving sustainable growth and profitability, and building Celon into a stronger and more differentiated pharmaceutical organization.

Mr. Pankaj Gulhane is a transformational pharmaceutical executive with more than two decades of experience in global pharmaceutical business development, licensing, M&A, strategic market entry and P&L leadership across emerging markets. His career is defined by a consistent record of building businesses from the ground up, turning around underperforming operations, and converting untapped market white space into sustainable, profitable revenue streams for some of India’s most respected pharmaceutical organisations.

As Vice President – International Business at Celon Laboratories, he leads Celon’s global growth charter, with a mandate to architect and execute international expansion across emerging markets. Operating from the corporate office in Hyderabad, he is responsible for international business strategy, cross-border partnerships, commercial expansion, portfolio management, in-licensing of differentiated products and the development of durable commercial infrastructure across target geographies — positioning Celon’s specialty and injectables portfolio for its next phase of global scale.

He has previously held leadership positions at Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Hetero Drugs, and Ranbaxy Laboratories. His experience in building and scaling businesses across competitive markets, combined with his leadership of cross-functional teams and international operations, positions him to drive Celon’s global business growth.

Mr. Karanam Sreekanth is an experienced human capital and organizational development leader with over 35 years of experience in people management, organizational development, and human resources. Throughout his career, he has worked across diverse organizations and industries, with a strong focus on building people capabilities, strengthening organizational effectiveness, and supporting business growth through effective human capital strategies.

As Vice President – Human Capital at Celon Laboratories, Mr. Sreekanth is focused on strengthening the organization’s people and talent agenda. His role encompasses organizational development, people management, talent development, employee engagement, and building an effective organizational culture aligned with the company’s business objectives.

Prior to joining Celon Laboratories, Mr. Karanam Sreekanth was associated with Yokohama OHT, and other organizations. His experience spans organizational development, human resources leadership, people management, and supporting organizational transformation. Over the course of his career, he has developed a broad understanding of the people and organizational challenges involved in building and sustaining high-performing teams.

Mr. Sreekanth holds a Postgraduate degree in Human Resources and has completed advanced programmes in Leadership and Human Resource Management from Symbiosis and IIM Indore. With more than three decades of experience in human capital management, he brings a strong combination of people leadership, organizational development, and strategic HR expertise to Celon Laboratories, supporting the company in building a capable, engaged, and future-ready organization.

Mr. Ravi Prakash is an experienced pharmaceutical manufacturing leader with over 30 years of experience in injectable formulations and pharmaceutical manufacturing. Throughout his career, he has developed extensive expertise in manufacturing operations, plant management, production, and operational leadership across established pharmaceutical organizations.

As Senior Vice President – Plant Head at Celon Laboratories, Mr. Raviprakash is responsible for leading plant operations and supporting operational excellence across the organization. His role focuses on strengthening manufacturing capabilities, ensuring efficient operations, maintaining high standards of quality and compliance, and supporting Celon’s continued growth in pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Prior to joining Celon Laboratories, Mr. Raviprakash was associated with Natco Pharma, Biological E. Ltd., Dabur Pharma, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd., Wockhardt Ltd., and Hindustan Antibiotics Ltd. His extensive experience across these organizations has provided him with a broad understanding of injectable manufacturing, pharmaceutical operations, and the operational requirements of a regulated manufacturing environment.

Mr. Raviprakash holds a Postgraduate degree in Master of Pharmacy from the College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Mangalore University, Manipal.

With more than three decades of experience in pharmaceutical manufacturing, particularly in injectable formulations, Mr. Raviprakash brings strong technical and operational leadership to Celon Laboratories. His experience supports the company’s focus on manufacturing excellence, operational efficiency, quality, and building robust pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities.

Mr. Nainesh Kumar Dwivedi is an experienced pharmaceutical quality professional with over 21 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Throughout his career, he has developed extensive expertise in quality management, regulatory compliance, pharmaceutical audits, and quality assurance across leading pharmaceutical organizations.
As Vice President – Quality at Celon Laboratories, Mr. Nainesh Kumar is responsible for strengthening the organization’s quality systems, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements, supporting audit readiness, and driving a culture of quality and continuous improvement across the organization.

Prior to joining Celon Laboratories, Mr. Nainesh Kumar was associated with Syngene International, Viatris Inc. (Mylan-Upjohn), Fresenius Kabi Oncology Ltd., Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, RB Healthcare India Ltd., DSM Sinochem Ltd., Panacea Biotech, and Unichem Laboratories Ltd. His extensive experience across these organizations has provided him with broad exposure to pharmaceutical quality systems, regulatory requirements, and global audit management.
Mr. Nainesh Kumar holds an M.Sc. from Gurukula Kangri University and an MBA from MDU Rohtak.

With more than two decades of experience in the pharmaceutical industry and exposure to 400+ global audits, Mr. Nainesh Kumar brings strong expertise in quality assurance, compliance, and audit management to Celon Laboratories. His experience will support Celon’s continued focus on quality excellence, regulatory compliance, and strengthening robust pharmaceutical quality systems.