Management Council

Umang Vohra is Managing Director and Global Chief Executive Officer (MD & GCEO) of Cipla since September 2016. Umang joined Cipla in October 2015 as its Global Chief Financial Officer, and from January 2016 to August 2016 was Cipla’s Global Chief Operating Officer.

After gaining degrees in engineering, marketing and finance, Umang was associated with companies such as Eicher Motors and PepsiCo. Prior to joining Cipla, Umang was Head of the North America business for Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories. Through his previous roles in India and the USA, he has built a distinguished career spanning almost two decades with deep understanding and experience in various aspects of the global pharmaceutical business.

Under Umang’s leadership, Cipla has built strong momentum in its home markets, augmented its capability, strengthened its core, and shown significant improvement in its operating margin and profitability. At the helm of the Management Council of Cipla, Umang’s big-picture agenda is to define and execute Cipla’s strategic growth roadmap and geographical footprint, identify the next levers of growth, invest in innovation for the future, and build the right organisation. Recognised as an action-oriented industry leader, Umang is a firm believer in the power of agile business models, disruptive technologies, data-driven analytics and a future-ready workforce with a view to shaping the healthcare ecosystem and making a difference to the lives of patients.

Geena Malhotra is Cipla’s Global Chief Technology Officer since January 2020 and is a member of its Management Council. She also fronts the Company’s Devices and Diagnostics Centre of Excellence, Sustainability agenda and Compliance drive.

Prior to her current role, she has led Manufacturing Operations as well as Integrated Product Development with the Company. Having joined Cipla in 1986, for well over three decades now, Geena has been an integral pillar of Research & Development and a key driver of Cipla’s Respiratory Innovation Engine. She spearheaded the Company’s use of cutting-edge technology platforms, equipment, drug-device combinations and targeted drug delivery dosage forms, in order to fulfill unmet patient needs. She also has to her credit, many patents in the areas of formulation development and technology in solid oral dosage forms, topical delivery systems and inhalation medical devices.

Geena has been instrumental in driving Cipla’s transformation towards becoming a digitally agile company as well as reimagining its operations across the value chain through initiatives like the adoption of Industry 4.0.

Under Geena’s leadership on the ESG front, Cipla has won several recognitions pertaining to Sustainability and Occupational Health & Safety. The Company ranked as one of the most sustainable healthcare companies in the Dow Jones Sustainability Emerging Markets Index 2021. Cipla was also conferred with the Frost & Sullivan and TERI's Sustainability 4.0 Awards 2021. These accolades are testimony to Cipla's continuous efforts in the sustainability space as a leader in the pharma industry.

Geena holds an Executive MBA degree from the University of Washington, St. Louis. She has also completed her Bachelor’s in Pharmacy from Mumbai.

Ashish Adukia joined Cipla as the Global Chief Financial Officer at Cipla in August 2022. Also, as a member of Cipla’s Management Council, Ashish will be responsible for contributing towards organization-wide projects and initiatives, apart from managing key acquisitions, divestments, P&L decisions for the company.

Prior to this, he was the CFO and part of the leadership team of Grasim Industries, the flagship company of Aditya Birla Group. After completing his Chartered Accountancy with an MBA in finance from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS), Ashish acquired close to two decades of rich cross-industry experience in investment banking and worked in large Indian conglomerates.

Apart from his stint at Grasim Industries, Ashish has been associated with Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and PwC. He comes with a deep understanding of capital markets and building, and scaling organizations backed by his strong focus on strategy and transformative excellence.

Ashish was featured in Fortune India’s 40 under 40 list in 2016 and was also the recipient of the Chairman’s Accomplished Leader Award at ABG in 2017. He enjoys playing tennis to unwind in his spare time and is passionate about scuba diving.

Dr. Raju Mistry is the President and Global Chief People Officer of Cipla since April 2019. As a member of Cipla’s Management Council, she brings to the table her expertise to lead a dynamic and ambitious people agenda with a keen focus on corporate culture, talent, employer brand and leadership development, that aligns with Cipla’s future-ready growth agenda,

Dr. Raju is an accomplished leader and HR veteran with 30 years of global experience across diverse sectors like Chemicals, Pharma, FMCG, IT, Engineering, and Textiles. Prior to Cipla, she has worked with Jubilant Lifesciences Ltd., Aditya Birla Group, Tata Group, Colgate-Palmolive, Siemens, Bayer and Mastech Corporation (Canada).

A strong proponent of shaping organisations to be people-first, inclusive and wellbeing- oriented, Dr. Raju has been at the helm of driving multiple efforts that have transformed Cipla into a future-fit organisation. Some of these initiatives include setting up Cipla’s Inclusion & Diversity Council, the #EqualCipla multi-geography and multi-generational workforce programme. With her guidance, the company has launched flagship programmes to build talent fungibility, encourage mobility and build a pipeline of future managers. This includes the introduction of leadership development modules with global management institutes, such as, Cornell, INSEAD and ISB.

Under her leadership, Cipla has secured several accolades, with the ‘World’s Best Employers 2021’ rankings by Forbes and Statista, ‘Great Place To Work’ certification, multiple recognitions by the National Human Resource Development People First Ace Awards 2021 and the ‘Top Employer for 2022 in South Africa’ by the Top Employers Institute’ being the most recent wins.

Dr. Raju holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior – Leadership Effectiveness from the University of Mumbai. She also done her Master’s in Industrial Psychology from the University of Mumbai and has Majored in Psychology from Mithibai College of Arts.

Pradeep Bhadauria is the President and Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) at Cipla. He joined the organization in 2020, prior to which he served as CSO and member of the Executive Committee at Amneal Pharmaceutical Inc. Pradeep has also held leadership positions in Apotex, Allergan/Actavis, Watson Pharmaceuticals, Sandoz, and Ranbaxy. With over two decades of experience, Pradeep is an industry veteran with expertise in the area of Pharmaceutical Research and Development.

With a Masters’ degree in Pharmacy from Birla Institute of Technology, Pradeep has a successful track record of developing and filing numerous products, including many first-to-file and first-to-market opportunities. He has worked on multiple dosage forms, and has extensive experience in working on complex generics, 505(B)2, specialty and other difficult-to-formulate products. He also holds several patents and has published research in various publications. 

In his current role, and as member of Management council of Cipla, Pradeep leads Cipla’s Global Integrated Product Development (IPD) organization to strengthen the company’s position as an innovation led generic and specialty pharmaceutical organization.

Swapn Malpani is the Joint President & Global Head of Supply Chain & Procurement of Cipla. He joined Cipla in 2016, prior to which he worked with leading Indian and multi-national companies across diverse sectors like pharmaceutical, medical devices, consumer and food industries; like Glenmark, Johnson & Johnson, ThermoFisher, Dr Reddys and Mars Inc. 

An engineering gold medallist and postgraduate in Supply Chain Management, Swapn brings with him 25 years of global experience and domain expertise in end-to-end Supply Chain Management & Procurement encompassing areas of strategic sourcing & procurement, external manufacturing, demand & supply planning, logistics & distribution, and customer service.

A strong leader with a strategic and creative mind set, Swapn has a proven track record of supporting the growth of organizations by championing transformation, building talent and creating tangible values. 

Paul Miller is the Chief Executive Officer of Cipla, South Africa. He joined Cipla Medpro in 2013, prior to which he served as the Vice President and Managing Director of Mylan in South Africa and as the Marketing Director of AstraZeneca in China. 

With an MBA from the University of Wales, Paul has worked across Europe, Asia and North America before serving in leadership roles in South Africa. He brings with him more than two decades of experience of successfully building and launching innovative brands that became market leaders across therapeutic areas such as cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, respiratory and anesthesia. 

Paul is highly regarded as someone who has solid understanding of strategy, building businesses and developing people. Paul is currently spearheading the SAGA region, which comprises South Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Uganda (Cipla QCIL) and Cipla Global Access.  He’s driving the company’s steady growth momentum in the South African market, considered to be a second home market for Cipla globally. 

In his spare time, Paul enjoys competing in triathlons.

Achin Gupta has been Chief Executive Officer of Cipla India Business since August 2021. He spearheads Cipla’s One India strategy, leveraging synergies across prescription, generics and consumer health business.

Achin holds a M Tech degree from IIT Delhi, specializing in Biochemical Engineering and Biotechnology and an MBA from IIM, Ahmedabad. In over two decades of his career, Achin has built a strong track record as an entrepreneurial leader, establishing new businesses across markets in India, Europe and emerging markets.

Prior to joining Cipla, he was associated with Glenmark Pharmaceuticals as EVP Business Head EMEA L. Achin was a Member of the Core Operating Group, Director on the Board of key European affiliates and a Member of Board at Medicines for Europe. In his earlier roles, Achin has worked for Abbott EPD and started his career with management consulting firm AT Kearney. In addition to being an accomplished commercial leader, he brings an in depth understanding of cross functional areas including strategy, portfolio, product development, licensing and partnerships.

Achin is a sports enthusiast, and his personal favourites include cricket, tennis, and squash.

Arunesh Verma is the Chief Executive Officer for Cipla’s North America business since 2019 and is also a member of Cipla’s Management Council. As part of the Council, he spearheads Cipla’s ambitious plans in North America, based out of New Jersey

Arunesh comes with over two decades of experience in a variety of cross-functional leadership roles in areas like Geography and P&L Head, Sales & Marketing, Portfolio Management, Business Development & Licensing, Launch Management, , etc. He has led diverse teams across India, Mexico, Australia & the US. Prior to joining Cipla, he worked with Torrent Pharma, Sandoz (US, Australia and Mexico) as well as Dr. Reddy’s Labs (India & Mexico) and Novartis (India).

Arunesh possesses a Master’s degree in Business management, Marketing and Communications as well and a Post-graduate Diploma in Marketing from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management. He also has a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Pharmacology and Pharmaceutics from the University of Mumbai.

Nishant Saxena heads Cipla’s Europe and Emerging markets business and is also a member of the company’s apex Management Council. As part of the Council, Nishant brings sharp focus to international Markets in line with Cipla’s business ambitions.

Nishant has been with Cipla for almost a decade handling varied roles from Chief Financial Officer in India to Chief Finance Officer and Director of Business Development / M&A for Cipla South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa, based in Cape Town. In 2017, Nishant was appointed as Cipla’s Global Chief Strategy Officer and then was elevated as the CEO of International Markets.

Nishant started his career at Procter & Gamble where he served in various senior roles like the Deputy Chief Financial Officer for India and Regional M&A Head for Asia. He also founded Elements Akademia, a corporate consulting and training company that has worked with Fortune 100 companies like Cadbury, Nestle, KPMG, Aircel, etc. Nishant has experience living as an expat in countries like Japan, Philippines, Singapore, India, South Africa and UAE.

He has over 22 years of experience in the areas of General Management, Finance, Strategy/M&A, Business Development and Six Sigma. His deep expertise lies in leading large, multi-cultural / geographical teams, creating a strategic vision and driving step change top & bottom-line growth for the business. Nishant won industry’s Young CFO of the Year award and under his leadership, the Cipla business won Exporter of the Year award.

Nishant has an MBA in Finance and Strategy from IIM Lucknow. He also has a certificate in Advanced Entrepreneurship from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Production Engineering from NIT Tiruchirappalli.

Nishant sits on the board of IIM Amritsar. He lives in Dubai with his wife and twin daughters. He maintains a blog on books (www.nishantsaxena.in) and is into adventure sports.

Vijayasarathi Ramaswami is the Global Head of Quality at Cipla since June 2022. He was previously the Senior Vice President of Operations Quality (APIs & Formulations) at Cipla for four years. As a member of Cipla’s Management Council, he is responsible for driving a strong culture of quality and regulatory compliance across Cipla sites.

Vijayasarathi has close to three decades of experience in manufacturing, packaging, quality assurance and product development projects of pharmaceutical formulations & active pharmaceutical ingredients. Prior to joining Cipla, he has worked with companies like Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Sanofi, etc. where he was responsible for Quality control, Quality assurance, manufacturing operations of APIs and Formulations in various capacities and across geographies.

A strong proponent of high-quality pharmaceutical products, in his present role, Vijay leads the organisation’s global quality enterprise right from the development of a product to its commercialization, and spearheads Cipla’s commitment to an uncompromising state of control with absolute regulatory compliance across all manufacturing sites of Cipla, its partners and third parties.

Vijay has done a Post Graduate Certificate Programme in Management from IIM-Kozhikode. He also has a Master of Science degree in Chemistry with honors and a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree with honors from the Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS) Pilani in Rajasthan.