Founded in 2002, we are a clinical stage biotech company committed to bringing novel and effective therapeutics for the treatment of cancer.
We leverage our deep expertise in oncology focused drug discovery and development to bring novel therapeutics to cancer patients.
Since inception, we have discovered 21 novel chemical entities for clinical development. We have out-licensed several of these to pharmaceutical and biotech companies, while advancing a few on our own.
We have built comprehensive drug discovery and development capabilities, nurtured a growing team of passionate scientists, and collaborated with partners across the world.
20+
years of experience
80+
integrated drug discovery projects
21
programs in global clinical development
425+
scientists
200+
NCE patents
We aspire to improve the lives of patients by ensuring access to quality cancer medicines through accelerated innovation and strong partnerships.
To positively impact the lives of cancer patients by fostering a culture of mutual respect, innovation, and integrity.
To bring together driven and passionate experts motivated by science with a strong belief in teamwork.
Creativity & Excellence - We thrive on the synergy of creativity and excellence, where imagination ignites innovation and aspiration drives peak performance.
Agility & Rigor - Agility is our hallmark, stemming from our ability to embrace change, make quick decisions, and thrive in a fast-paced environment.
Integrity & Transparency - We are committed to unwavering honesty,accountability, and the highest ethical standards in every aspect of our work.
Collaboration & Teamwork - At the heart of our patient-focused and people-centric organization lies a culture of collaboration and teamwork. Together, we harness our diverse perspectives and expertise to drive innovation and foster synergy among stakeholders, employees, and partners.
Respect for Individuals - Respect for individuals is the bedrock of our culture and we promote an environment where everyone feels valued, heard, and respected.
A closer look at our achievements and milestones in the past two decades – with many more to come.
Aurigene gains global rights for CA-170
DCGI approves CAR-T GMP manufacturing facility for clinical trials
Aurigene receives IND approval from the USFDA for AUR-110 (SMARCA2 selective degrader)
Aurigene initiates Phase 1 clinical trial in India for AUR-106 (TIGIT inhibitor)
Aurigene initiates Phase 1 clinical trial in India for AUR-107 (CBP/p300 inhibitor)
Expansion of modalities: 2 antibody discovery programs initiated based on our Antibody Technology Platform
Aurigene gains global rights for AG-636
Multi-program partnership with EQRx for developing drugs for oncology and immune-inflammation
Global licensing agreement with Olema
Aurigene gains global rights for ODM-203
Aurigene initiates Phase 1 clinical trials in India for AUR-103 (oral CD47 inhibitor)
Aurigene initiates Phase 1 clinical trial in India for AUR-105 (PRMT5 inhibitor)
Aurigene initiates Phase 2b clinical trials in the US for AUR-101 (RORgt inverse agonist)
Aurigene initiates Phase 2b/Phase 3 clinical trials in India for CA-170
Aurigene initiates Phase 2a clinical trials in India for ODM-203
Aurigene initiates Phase 2a clinical trials in India for AUR-101 (RORgt inverse agonist)
Separation of services business
Aurigene gains Asia rights for CA-170
Multi-program licensing deal with Exelixis
Aurigene initiates Phase 1 clinical trials in Australia for AUR-101 (RORgt inverse agonist)
Licensing agreement with Agios
Aurigene initiates Phase 2a clinical trials in India for CA-170
Multi-program licensing agreement with Curis
Option licensing deal with Orion Pharma
Partnership with US biotech Mitobridge (currently an Astellas company)
Candidate from the Novartis collaboration enters Phase 1
First biotech partnership with H3 Biomedicine (subsidiary of Eisai)
Several internal programs initiated in IO, epigenetics, and Th17 pathway
Discovery and peptide partnerships with two US/EU-based large pharma
Initiation of the first IO program - peptide antagonist of PD-1
Multi-year, multi-target strategic partnerships with a large US pharma
Multi-year, multi-target strategic partnerships with Endo
Multi-year, multi-target strategic partnerships with Janssen
Multi-year, multi-target strategic partnerships with Novartis and Orion
First early stage licensing and discovery partnership with Merck Serono and Debiopharm groups
First discovery partnership with Novo Nordisk
Achieved breakeven, management change, and addition to Senior Scientific team
Aurigene incorporated
Murali Ramachandra, PhD
Chief Executive Officer
Murali has been an integral part of Aurigene since February 2005. Before assuming the role of CEO, he served as Chief Scientific Officer at Aurigene. His extensive experience in leading successful and innovative R&D at both operational and strategic levels was instrumental in establishing a robust pipeline of clinical and pre-clinical assets. Prior to Aurigene, Murali held positions of increasing responsibility at the National Institute of Health, USA, and Schering-Plough, USA, contributing significantly to various aspects of drug discovery. He earned his PhD from the University of Idaho, USA, and completed his Postdoctoral fellowship at DuPont Experimental Station and the University of Kansas Medical Centre, Kansas City, USA. Murali has co-authored over 75 scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals, and an inventor of 30 granted US patents.
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Susanta Samajdar, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer
Susanta Samajdar serves as the Chief Scientific Officer at Aurigene Oncology Limited, bringing over 25 years of experience in synthetic and medicinal chemistry research within diverse sectors of Indian industries and academia. He earned his Ph.D. in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS) in Kolkata. Subsequently, he pursued post-doctoral training in anti-cancer drug discovery at MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston, TX.
Dr. Samajdar has spearheaded multi-disciplinary drug discovery teams, resulting in the successful delivery of more than 15 preclinical development candidates spanning the Oncology and Inflammation therapeutic domains. His proficiency extends across various therapeutic modalities, encompassing small molecules, antibodies, antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), protein degradation, and natural products.
He has tackled a range of target classes such as transcription factors, GPCRs, ion channels, proteases, kinases, NHRs, epigenetic effector proteins etc. With a prolific track record, Dr. Samajdar has amassed over 100 patents and publications. He has been affiliated with Aurigene since March 2012, contributing his expertise in anti-cancer drug discovery and exploring newer avenues in Oncology research.
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Akhil Kumar, MD
Chief Medical Officer
Akhil leads the clinical development department at Aurigene. After completing his MBBS from AIIMS, New Delhi, in 1995, he completed his residency training in Internal Medicine and Clinical Fellowship in Hematology and Oncology from the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. He has been in the industry for more than 20 years, with both big pharma as well as small biotech companies. He has been part of two successful New Drug Applications to the US FDA and has also led about 20 IND applications to US FDA and about 10 IND applications to DCGI, India. He established the clinical development department at Aurigene and works with cross-functional teams like pharmacology, pharmacokinetics and toxicology. In addition, while at Aurigene, he has also established the CGT (Cell and Gene Therapy) vertical, including a GMP facility for clinical trials. Akhil has been with Aurigene since 2017.
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Brijesh Kumar Karnani
Chief Financial Officer
Brijesh is a Chartered Accountant with 20+ years of experience in Accounting, Financial Management, Internal Auditing and Project Management. He has also completed Certified Internal Auditor certification from The Institute of Internal Auditors, USA. Prior to joining Aurigene, he has worked for around 12 years in Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Limited in Hyderabad in various roles including as Head of Internal Audit. His earlier experience includes stints with large audit firms in Hyderabad and Bangalore. He has been in Aurigene since Feb 2020.
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Sanjeev Giri, PhD
Senior Vice President and Head – Early Development
Sanjeev has over 20 years of experience in the field of new drug development and clinical research. He has successfully led multidisciplinary teams including DMPK, Toxicology, PRD, Formulations, ARD, Quality, Project Management, and Competitive Intelligence to support projects starting from Discovery to IND/ Clinical POC. Sanjeev has led and contributed to the success of more than 15 IND and ANDA applications in various therapeutic areas such as oncology, inflammation, metabolic disorders, and anti-infectives. His experience is spread across multiple Indian pharma & CROs including Cadila Pharmaceuticals, Reliance Clinical Research Services, and Jubilant Biosys where he worked on generics and new drug products. Sanjeev received his PhD in Chemistry from VBS University, and MBA from IIM Bangalore, India. He has co-authored over 25 research articles in peer-reviewed journals and is an inventor of a couple of USA patents. Sanjeev joined Aurigene in March 2014.
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Subir Dubey
Vice President, Business Development
Subir has around 30 years of experience in international business development and formulation of business strategy. He has unique mix of experience in finished formulations, APIs, Biosimilars, Pre-clinical drug discovery services business and out-licensing of new chemical entities (NCEs). He has worked with companies like Jubilant Biosys Ltd, Intas Biopharmaceuticals Ltd, Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd, DeVats India Pvt Ltd and ACE Laboratories Ltd wherein he covered various geographies i.e. US, Europe, Latin America, Middle East and Africa. He has done Ex. Masters in International Business from Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), Delhi.
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Veerendra Patil
Vice President and Head – Human Resources and Administration
Veerendra, as the Head of Human Resources at Aurigene, is responsible for driving the human resources strategies aligning with organizational goals to enable growth and innovation. Veerendra has over 20 years of experience from Pharma/Biotech, ITES, and Infrastructure/Power sectors.
Prior to Aurigene, Veerendra has worked with GMR Group, Macmillan India Ltd. and RMZ Corp.
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G V Prasad
Chairman of the Board
G V Prasad is the Co-chairman and Managing Director of Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. He is widely credited as the architect of Dr. Reddy’s successful global generics strategy. He envisioned new business platforms such as the custom pharmaceutical services business and specialty pharmaceuticals, and is dedicated to building the innovation side of the business. He is also a champion of sustainability thinking. Prasad earned his degree in Chemical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago (USA) in 1982 and his Masters in Industrial Administration from Purdue University (USA) in 1983.
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Satish Reddy
Director
Satish Reddy is the Chairman of Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories. He joined the company in 1993 and since then, has held positions of increasing responsibility. Satish led the organization’s transition from a uni-focused manufacturer of APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients) to a company that moved up the value-chain with a diverse product portfolio of finished dosage formulations. He oversaw the expansion and establishment of a strong footprint for Dr. Reddy’s finished dosage products in Russia, CIS countries, and other emerging markets.
Satish holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from Osmania University (India), and an MS in Medicinal Chemistry from Purdue University (USA), where he received the 2009 Distinguished Alumnus Award from the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
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Parag Agarwal
Director
Parag Agarwal is the Chief Financial Officer of Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Limited. He joined Dr. Reddy’s from London-based Reckitt Benckiser PLC, where he was the CFO for Health. In a career spanning over 33 years, Parag has held several leadership positions, contributing significantly to the financial performance of his organizations. With over 10 years of working experience in several countries outside India, he brings deep global experience in leading business and financial strategy, transforming finance function, as well as in M&A strategy and execution.
He has expertise in driving performance management of investments, financial result delivery, and driving operating margin improvement through revenue and cost optimization across the value chain. Parag has held leadership positions in diverse cultural contexts and has driven large-scale change management programs in ambiguous and dynamic environments. Prior to his nine-year stint at Reckitt, Parag was associated with organizations such as Unilever, GSK Consumer Healthcare, and Genpact. Parag is a Chartered Accountant and a Company Secretary.
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M V Ramana
Director
M V Ramana is Chief Executive Officer, Branded Markets (India and Emerging Markets) and leads innovation for Dr. Reddy’s. In this role, he leads a multicultural team in 45 countries. A passionate believer in the organization’s purpose of accelerating access to innovative and affordable healthcare, Ramana has spearheaded the company’s foray into several new markets and spaces and has secured its position as a leading generics player in them. He is also a member of Management Council of the company.
As the CEO of Branded Markets, dealing with complex, ambiguous business environments which present a huge growth potential; Ramana has been able to think ahead and build robust strategies which have delivered market beating growth in their respective spaces. Not only has he been able to push the envelope on new therapy areas but has also built new age skills in the space of sales, marketing and portfolio building.
Ramana has demonstrated ambidexterity and an appetite for risk as he spearheads disruptive spaces, navigating new business models and leveraging both deep science and technology platforms. Leading multiple workstreams across business units and geographies, he is currently engaged in building the Innovative Products side of the business across Dr Reddy’s .
Ramana joined Dr. Reddy’s as a Management Trainee in 1992 in the International Marketing division of the company’s Branded Formulations business. Since then, he has handled various critical assignments from setting up the business in several countries across Asia, Latin America, Africa Russia, the Middle East and the joint venture in China.
He is an MBA from Osmania University, Hyderabad and has done the ISB-Kellogg management development programme.
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Dr. Bruce Carter
Independent Director
Dr. Bruce LA Carter is an independent member of the board at Dr. Reddy’s for the past seven years. He started his long and illustrious career in the biopharma industry at G.D. Searle & Co. In 1986, he joined ZymoGenetics as Vice President of Research and Development and then went on to head the company as Chief Executive Officer from April 1998 to January 2009. During this period, ZymoGenetics was acquired by Novo Nordisk A/S, where he served as Corporate Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer from April 1994 to October 1999.
Dr. Carter led the negotiations that established ZymoGenetics as an independent company from Novo Nordisk in 2000. He has also been a part of academia, as a Lecturer/Professor at Trinity College, University of Dublin, and University of Washington. He received a BSc with Honors in Botany from the University of Nottingham (UK) and a PhD in Microbiology from Queen Elizabeth College, University of London (UK).
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Hariharnath Buggana
Independent Director
Hariharnath Buggana is the Managing Director of InvAscent India – a private equity firm focused on Indian healthcare, pharma, and medtech industries. Prior to this, Hari was a consultant with McKinsey & Company. During his stint at McKinsey, Hari primarily worked with life sciences businesses in the US, Europe, and India on a variety of issues ranging from corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions, product-market strategy, R&D productivity, organizational effectiveness, and operations improvement.
Prior to joining McKinsey, Hari worked as a scientist in the pharmaceutical products division of Abbott Laboratories (USA). Hari has an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University and an MS in Chemical Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago (USA).
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Dr. Shubhada Chiplunkar
Independent Director
Prof Shubhada Chiplunkar Former Director of the Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC), Tata Memorial Centre, Navi Mumbai and the Head of Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy Research Group at ACTREC obtained her PhD from University of Mumbai (1983) and post-doctoral fellowship from Max Planck Institute, Freiburg Germany. Her specific expertise is in the areas of cancer immunobiology. She has dedicated over 35 years of research career in understanding immune dysfunctions in the tumor microenvironment of cancer patients. She employed this experience in development of immunotherapeutic strategies for cancer using Gamma Delta T cells. As an adviser within a national consortium on therapeutics, she is involved in guiding the development of cell-based therapeutics, including CART cells and other immunotherapeutic modalities.
She has widely published and continues to actively pursue her scientific interests through diverse platforms. She is the member of several scientific advisory and review committees of national research institutes, DBT, DST, BIRAC, ICMR. She has served as Member of the Board of Governors NIPER- A and Academic Council of Universities and as Senate member of IIT-B. She is the President of Immuno-oncology society of India (IOSI) and Mumbai Immunology Group (MIG). At present she is also the member of the Education Committee of International Union Immunological Societies (IUIS).
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Dr. Kumar Srinivasan
Independent Director
Kumar Srinivasan, Ph.D., MBA, in his most recent role served as executive vice president and chief business officer at Turning Point Therapeutics with responsibility for corporate strategy and business development, including collaborations and alliances where he successfully lead the sale of the company to Bristol Myers Squibb for $ 4.1 billion.
Kumar has over 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, most recently as vice
president and global head of business development for the BioPharmaceutical business unit of AstraZeneca.
During his 9-year tenure at AstraZeneca, Dr. Srinivasan was responsible for all in- and out-licensing, business development and alliance management activities within several therapeutic areas on a regional and global scale. During the pandemic Kumar lead the licensing and global supply agreements for the AstraZeneca’s vaccine and mAb cocktails and contributed significantly to the success of both these programs which made a tremendous impact on global health.
In addition, he previously held executive level business development roles at Wyeth; Vivoryon (formerly known as Probiodrug), a publicly traded biotech based in Germany; and Torrey Pines Therapeutics. Earlier in his career, he held scientific roles at biopharmaceutical companies, Sibia Neurosciences and Genta.
He has a Ph.D from Case Western University in chemistry, did his postdoctoral work at Caltech under Nobel Laureate Professor Frances Arnold and has an MBA with a concentration in finance and strategy from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.
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Corporate Social Responsibility Committee
Independent Director
Director
Chairman of the Board
May Daher
Scientific Advisor
May Daher, MD is a physician scientist, Assistant Professor in the Stem Cell Transplant and Cellular Therapy Department at MD Anderson Cancer Center. May is also the Associate Director of Translational Research in the Department of Stem Cell Transplantation and the Associate Director of the Cell Engineering Group in the GMP facility. May received her M.D. degree at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon with Distinction, after which she completed an Internal Medicine residency program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and a fellowship training program in Hematology and Medical Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center with a focus on cancer immunology, cellular immune therapy and hematopoietic transplantation.
She also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the translational laboratory of Dr. Katy Rezvani where she was instrumental in advancing the CAR-NK cell therapy platform. Her laboratory research focuses on developing novel cellular engineering strategies and incorporating gene editing techniques to enhance the metabolic fitness and potency of cellular therapy products, surmount the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment and circumvent immune evasion mechanisms developed by tumors. As a physician, Dr. Daher is working on translating these novel therapies to the clinic to treat patients with relapsed refractory malignancies.
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Amit K. Verma
Scientific Advisor
Amit K. Verma, M.B.B.S is a Professor in the Department of Oncology (Medical Oncology), Department of Medicine (Oncology & Hematology) and Department of Developmental & Molecular Biology, Director of Division of Hemato-Oncology Montefiore Department of Oncology and Associate Director of Translational Science Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
Amit’s research focusses on molecular pathogenesis of Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) to identify targetable pathways for treatment of this disease. His professional interests include targeting signal transduction in hematologic malignancies, targeting aberrant stem and progenitor cells in myelodysplastic neoplasms, Epigenomic analysis of tumors, and clinical studies in myelodysplastic syndromes. Amit’s work has led to clinical trials with Luspatercept, Galunisertib, emavusertib (CA-4948), ARRY-614 and various other promising agents in MDS. Amit has also worked with 9/11 first responders and has shown that 10% of the 9/11 firefighters have clonal hematopoiesis – an incidence more than two to three times greater than in non-WTC firefighters. His team continues to investigate the association between environmental exposures and cancer in in vulnerable populations. He is also involved in early stage clinical trials with novel agents in MDS.
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Arul M. Chinnaiyan
Scientific Advisor
Arul M. Chinnaiyan, M.D., Ph.D. is the Director of the Michigan Center for Translational Pathology, the S.P. Hicks Endowed Professor of Pathology and Urology at the University of Michigan, and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academies of Science and Medicine. Dr. Chinnaiyan is best known for the discovery of TMPRSS2-ETS gene fusions in a majority of prostate cancers, the first causative gene fusion identified in a common solid tumor. Recurrent gene fusions have since been characterized as targetable driver alterations across subsets of carcinomas. In 2010, Dr. Chinnaiyan’s group established the first comprehensive clinical sequencing approach for advanced cancer patients called MI-Oncoseq, which has served as a paradigm for cancer precision medicine. He has received a number of awards for his work and most recently received the 2022 Sjöberg Prize for cancer research by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He has co-authored over 600 manuscripts and mentored numerous trainees who have had successful careers in academia and industry. Dr. Chinnaiyan has co-founded several companies including Armune Biosciences (acquired by Exact Sciences), Compendia Biosciences (acquired by ThermoFisher), Oncopia Therapeutics (acquired by Roivant), Esanik Therapeutics, Flamingo Therapeutics, MedsynBio and LynxDx.
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