Leadership

Founder:

Dr Anjali Apte-Deshpande is Founder/Director of Central Dogma Pvt Ltd. She has held scientific positions in Lupin Pharma (Biotech division) R &D and was involved in Biosimilar product development and product life cycle management from R & D to clinic, novel formulation development and Biosimilar product approval process. She was also an active researcher in  molecular neurobiology group at SRI international, CA , USA and was involved in gene expression studies related to Sleep and has published the research work in peer reviewed journals.

She has several years of research experience in Biotechnology industry, both in India and USA. Her expertise are in the domains of molecular biology, protein expression, regulatory submission. She has contributed significantly in drafting and review of various regulatory documents submitted to Indian regulatory authorities as well as patents submitted in India and abroad.

Dr Anjali pursued her PhD from University of Pune majoring in Biotechnology prior to which she completed her master’s dgree from San Jose state university, CA, USA majoring in molecular biology.

Dr Anjali has 16 publications in International peer reviewed journals and 6 patents with published PCT filed both in India and abroad of which one has been granted in USA. She is a recognized PhD guide of Manipal University, Karnataka . She has also guided students for their M Pharm and M Sc projects in the capacity of an Industrial Adviser. Dr Anjali has also been an invited reviewer for manuscripts submitted to some peer reviewed journals.

Advisory Board:

Dr.Cyrus Karkaria
President, Lupin Limited (Biotech Division)

Dr Cyrus Karkaria is currently President of the Biotechnology division of Lupin Pharma based in Pune.
Prior to that, he was Vice President at Celldex Therapeutics and CuraGen Corporation in New Haven, Connecticut, USA heading Operations and Biopharmaceutical Process Sciences.
He has also held positions at Biogen Idec and Scios. He has been part of teams that have developed blockbusters in the field of neurology, immunology and oncology such as Avonex, Amevive and Tysabri (Biogen Idec). He has also developed commercial processes from the bench to manufacturing scale (2,000L to 15,000L).
As part of the commercialization process he has also faced Regulatory bodies like the US FDA, EMEA, Australian TGA etc., through pre-IND to BLA filings.
He holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Maryland and was a post-doctoral researcher at the Harvard Medical School.

Dr Deepak Gadkari
Scientific Consultant, Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi

Dr Gadkari is currently the scientific consultant for ICMR, New Delhi. Prior to this, he has held various positions, some of them are, Major resource person for ICMR to establish virology laboratory network across India, Emeritus medical scientist of ICMR, project consultant for Indo-US collaborative project Influenza virus.
He was director of NIV for 3 years during late 1990 and has also held positions like Officer-In-Charge (Fogarty International Senior Fellowships) and Director at NARI.
He has made significant contribution in the field of virology and has developed ELISA methods for the diagnosis of Japanese encephalitis, West Nile and dengue viruses. He was also instrumental in indigenously developing ELISA for the detection of HBsAg from serum/plasma specimens. His active research has helped in identifying potential JE virus vaccine candidates.
He is been member of various eminent committees in the field of virology like Research Core Committee, National AIDS Control Organization, (NACO) Ministry of Health & FW, Govt. of India, Committee on Development of Microbial Containment Complex, (NIV/ICMR), Indo-US Vaccine Action Program (HIV / AIDS), Acambis-ICMR: Japanese encephalitis vaccine evaluation Committee, NTAGI, Min of H&FW,Govt of India etc. He has been instrumental as a consultant for past 9 years in “Creation of Virology Network in India through ICMR”.
He has over 40 publications, book chapters/review articles and many fellowships and awards to his credit.
He pursued his PhD in Virology from University of Glasgow, UK and was recipient of Commonwealth scholarship.

Dr Rustom Mody
Senior Vice-President and Head R &D in Lupin Ltd (Biotechnology division)

Dr Rustom Mody is currently Senior Vice-President and Head R &D in Lupin Ltd (Biotechnology division). Prior to this he has held positions as Executive Vice-President, CSO and R & D head and Plant head in Intas Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. He was also Director and Project Supervisor (Hep. B Vaccine) in Serum Institute of India and is the pioneer in the development of Hepatitis B vaccine in India.
Dr Mody has over 19 years of extensive Biopharmaceutical industry experience. He has handled wide-ranging operations in the capacity of Head, Technical (R&D, Manufacturing & Quality), Techno-Commercial (identification of in-licensing & out-licensing opportunities, management of R&D alliances, selection & development of marketable products, technologies and services, management of business (partners/clients) and Facility Management (expansion of infrastructure & capabilities in sync with commercial interests & opportunities). He is the key person behind development and commercialization of 8 Biosimilar products to the Indian market. He was affiliated as Expert Council member for Biotherapeutics with United States Pharmacopoeia (Medicines Compendium) and advisor to Indian Pharmacopoeia.

Apart from his industrial career, he is an active academician and has guided students for their PhD work. He has 37 publications and review articles in International peer reviewed journals to his credit and 16 filed patents of which 4 are granted. He has presented his research work in various International conferences. He has also achieved medals and awards like Gold medal for excellence in research endeavors, Significant Performance Award and Award for highly quoted publication.
He pursued his PhD in Microbiology from M.S. University, Baroda and has also received trainings in Senior Management from eminent institute like IIM, Ahmedabad.