President

Mr. Ranjit Shahani
Vice Chairman & Managing Director
Novartis India Ltd.

Ranjit Shahani is President of OPPI (Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India) and Country President responsible for the overall operations of the Novartis Group of Companies in India.

A Mechanical Engineer from Indian Institute of Technology, (IIT) Kanpur and MBA from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, (JBIMS), Mumbai, he started his career with ICI in India in their businesses of Fibres & Speciality Chemicals. Later, he rose to the position of General Manager with ICI / ZENECA U.K., overseeing their Asia Pacific and LatAm operations for their Petrochemicals and Plastics division.

This was followed by a period as CEO at Roche Products Limited, after which he moved to Novartis in India in 1997, following the merger of Sandoz-Ciba.

Mr. Shahani was President of OPPI from 2001-2007. He is Past President of the Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, President, Swiss Indian Chamber of Commerce, and was on the Council of the International Federation of Pharmaceuticals Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA), Geneva. He is a thought leader in the Pharmaceutical Industry and has been actively involved in lobbying for a strong Product Patent law in the country and Data Protection and liberalization of the price control mechanism for Pharmaceuticals. He has also strongly canvassed for deterrent legislation against counterfeit drugs.

He was born in Kanpur, India, is married and his wife is a well known educationist and currently also the sheriff of Mumbai – they have one son – who works with McKinsey in London.
 

Vice Presidents

Dr. Girish L. Telang is the Vice-President of OPPI & Managing Director of Roche Scientific Company (India) Pvt. Ltd. Dr. Telang is a medical graduate from Grant Medical College, University of Bombay and has also undergone post-graduate training in nuclear medicine during his five year stint in the Medical Corps of the Indian Army. He also holds a Diploma in Advertising Management. Dr. Telang has been with Roche for over 28 years and during this time he has held positions in Clinical Research, Corporate Communications, Medico Marketing and Head of the Pharmaceutical Division. He is the Chairman of the Medical Committee of OPPI.

Kewal Handa is Managing Director, Pfizer Limited, the world’s No.1 pharmaceutical company that discovers and develops break-through drugs, provides information on prevention, wellness, and treatment; consistent high-quality manufacturing of medicines, consumer products; and is a global leader in corporate responsibility. Under his leadership, the company is now aggressive in its growth plans and has launched several new products.

Kewal is a reputed industry expert who takes the lead on key issues that concern the pharmaceutical sector. As Vice President of the Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI), he has been at the forefront of the industry’s efforts to resolve issues pertaining to the pharmaceutical sector. He is also the Chairman of DPCO & Taxation Committee of OPPI.  He has recently been appointed as the President of All India Management Association and is a committee member of various industry bodies in the country.

Kewal was awarded the ‘India CFO 2004 – Excellence in Finance in an MNC’ by International Market – Assessment Group and has recently won the Bharat Shiromani Award.

A qualified Management Accountant and Company Secretary, and with a Masters Degree in Commerce from Sydenham College, Mumbai, Kewal has completed the Pfizer Leadership Development Program from Harvard University, the Senior Management Development Program from IIM, Ahmedabad. He has also done a course on Marketing Strategy from Columbia Business School.

Mr. Handa is also the Managing Director of Wyeth Ltd.

Dr. Shailesh Ayyangar is the Vice-President of OPPI & Managing Director, Aventis Pharma Ltd., Sanofi Aventis Group. Dr. Ayyangar is a topper is the Post Graduate Programme in Business Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA). He started his career with Ranbaxy and then moved on to Eskayef Ltd. (SmithKline Beecham) and later became the Vice President – Sales Operations for Pharmaceuticals for SmithKline Beecham. Later on, Dr. Ayyangar was selected to direct the International Tropical Medicine Initiative of SmithKline Beecham in U.K. He returned to India in 2000 to oversee the merger of SmithKline Beecham commercial operations with GlaxoWellcome and subsequent to the merger he took over as Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing in GlaxoSmithKline in India. In 2002, he left GSK to take over as Managing Director of Sanofi-Synthelabo operations in India. He is the Chairman of the Marketing Committee of OPPI.

Mr. Sandeep Gupta is the Vice – President of OPPI and Chairman & Managing Director of Eli Lilly & Company (India) Pvt. Ltd. He is also the Chairman of Communications & PR Committee of OPPI. Before taking over his assignment at Lilly India in March 2006, Sandeep was the President & General Manager of Eli Lilly Philippines, where he spent close to three years catapulting the affiliate on a high growth trajectory.

Mr. Gupta completed his Masters of Management Studies (M.M.S) from BITS, Pilani and started his career in Marketing Research. Before joining Lilly, he had a successful stint at Indian Market Research Bureau (IMRB) where he led the research company’s foray in pharmaceutical market research, an area that was still nascent at that time.

In his career spanning 25 years, Mr. Gupta has held a variety of positions in Sales, Marketing and General Management in Lilly offices at India, Region (Hong Kong), Philippines and Global Headquarters (Indianapolis, USA).

Mr. Gupta was elected to the board of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP) in 2005. He continues to be on the Executive Committee of OPPI since 2006. He is also an ex- member of CII National Committee on Drugs and Pharmaceuticals for the year 2007-2008.

Under his dynamic leadership, Lilly India has clocked a growth that is significantly higher than the industry average over the last 3 years. He also has the distinction of leading Lilly to the Top 10 list of "Best Companies to Work for in India" in the Business Today-Mercer-TNS survey 2008, the only Pharmaceutical Company in this coveted list.
 

Director General

Mr. Tapan Ray
Director General, OPPI
Mr. Ray has around thirty years of national and international experience in the Healthcare Industry with Pharmaceuticals, Medical Diagnostics, Biotech, Neutraceutical/Cosmeceutical, Nutritional and Hospital Products business, based in India and the UK. Mr. Ray currently holds the position of Director General of the Organization of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI).

Mr. Ray has held various senior positions like:

• International Marketing Strategy Manager, Glaxo plc, U.K

• Director in the Board of Glaxo India Limited

• Non-Executive Director of Biddle Sawyer India Limited

• Managing Director of Abbott Laboratories India Limited

• Managing Director of Kopran Limited, India

• CEO and Director of Sami Labs Limited, India

Mr. Ray was also the President and Vice-President of the Organization of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI) and the Chairman of its Marketing Committee. He is a Life Member of Bombay Management Association.

Mr. Ray also holds the position of:

• Non Executive Director in the Board of Shasun Chemicals and Drugs Limited, India

• Non Executive Director in the Board of Shasun Pharma Solutions Limited, Northumberland, England, United Kingdom (U.K)

• Member of the Council of International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), Geneva, Switzerland

• Member of the Advisory Board of Institute of Intellectual Property Studies, Mumbai

• Member of the National Life Science Committee of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII)

• Member of the National Committee on Drugs & Pharmaceuticals of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII)

• Member of the National Pharmaceutical Committee of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)

• Visiting Faculty in India’s Top Management Institutes and a Key note Speaker in various National and Inter-national seminars and conferences.

Mr. Ray holds a B.Sc (Honors) and a Masters Degree in Geology from the University of Calcutta and has been a National Scholar. He was trained at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad.