Dr Swati Piramal has received a special award at the Eleventh Asian Women of Achievement Awards in London. HRH Princess Michael of Kent and Amanda Mackenzie the chief marketing officer of Aviva presented the Global Empowerment Award, which honors individuals whose vision inspires economic and social progress across the world.

In 2009, Dr Piramal became the first woman in the 90-year history of the Indian Chambers of Commerce, ASSOCHAM, to be elected president and she immediately chose 100 women to chair the chamber’s national sub-committees.

In 1998, she co-founded fledgling company Nicholas Laboratories, which has now grown into life sciences and healthcare multinational Piramal Group. With operations in India, the US and Europe, the company employs 10,000 people and sells products to over 100 countries. Her focus on ‘democratizing’ healthcare in India led her to set up a national diagnostic network. Today, Piramal diagnostics pathology and imaging centers are present in over 100 cities across the country. She has also been the driving force behind many more medical initiatives in India.

In 2006, she received the Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Merite from the French President Mr Jacques Chirac after being nominated by Forbes magazine as one of the 25 most powerful women in India for the third year running (2002-2005).

The Asian Women of Achievement Awards is an essential vehicle that continues to unearth inspiring and humbling stories of achievement. The Asian Women of Achievement Awards - held in association with Lloyds Banking Group for the last six years and hosted by Real Business magazine - champion the vibrant contributions Asian women are making to British life across the media, arts, business, science, medicine and the voluntary sector.

Strides Arcolab announced the appointment of Manish Gupta as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) - pharma. The appointment follows the restructuring plan announced by the company in 2009 and realignment of the business in three verticals-pharma, specialty and branded generics.

"Manish comes with deep business expertise and multi cultural exposure and we are delighted to have him lead our pharma business. He imbibes a strong financial discipline in his working style and is a significant addition to the Strides leadership team," said Arun Kumar, Vice Chairman and group Chief Executive Officer.

"I am delighted to be part of Strides Group at these exciting growth times of the business. I look forward to bringing about sharper focus and performance of the pharma business," said Mainsh Gupta.

GVK Biosciences has appointed Dr John Ellingboe as Senior Vice President, Discovery Chemistry. He will report to Manni Kantipudi, President, GVK Biosciences.

Prior to joining GVK BIO, Dr Ellingboe worked with Wyeth Research and Pfizer for 25 years in senior scientific positions and has extensive background in medicinal chemistry and drug discovery. During the course of his time at Wyeth, he established a core parallel synthesis group, a lead identification group, and an integrated medicinal chemistry group working in all phases of drug discovery.

His responsibilities included the identification of leads and development candidates across multiple therapeutic areas and leading a department across several research sites. The chemistry group worked closely with screening sciences, computational chemistry, X-ray crystallography, and drug safety and metabolism groups to identify optimal development candidates.

Hikal, an India-based contract manufacturer for global life sciences and specialty chemicals companies has appointed Dr. Vadiraj Ekkundi as the Head of its R&D facility in Bangalore.

Dr. Ekkundi comes with over 26 years of experience in the field of Research & Development activities. His experience encompasses a mix of scientific, technical as well as managerial roles. He has occupied various top level positions in leading multinational companies such as Hindustan Lever Limited, Wyeth Laboratories, Atul Products Limited, and Ciba group.

Dr. Ekkundi has done his MSc from Dharwad University and PhD from Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai. He has also done his Post Doctoral Research from the Institute of Organic Chemistry, Braunschweig, Germany and the Boston College, USA.

Ocimum Biosolutions, a Hyderabad, India based genomics Solutions Company has appointed David U'Prichard, President at Druid consulting to the company's Board of Directors effective immediately.
Dr. U'Prichard holds several board positions in life sciences companies globally that include Life Technologies, Inc., Oxagen, Cyclacel and Silence Therapeutics Dr. David U'Prichard is also a venture partner at Red Abbey Venture Partners.

The pharma expert Dr C Gopalakrishna Murthy has been elected the president of Indian Pharmaceutical Association (IPA) for a two-year term from April 1 this year. He replaces Dr B Suresh. The outgoing president, Dr Suresh has officially announced Dr Murthy's elevation in the IPA Convention 2010, held in Chennai recently.

After securing a Post Graduate Degree in Pharmacy in 1951, Murthy joined the Andhra Pradesh State Drugs Control Department, where he rose to the position of Director of State Drugs Control Administration. He got WHO Fellowship (1969-70) to study Food and Drugs Administration and the Pharmaceutical industry in USA, UK, West Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, France, Italy and the erstwhile USSR. In 1981, Murthy was awarded the prestigious Fellowship of the Academy of Sciences – AP in recognition of his contribution to the various fields of Pharmacy.

He originated the concept of divisions in the IPA and was the first chairman of the regulatory division during 1997–2000 and vice-president, IPA. He is on the board of directors of some reputed pharmaceutical firms in Hyderabad like Sri Krishna Drugs Ltd, Sri Krishna Pharmaceuticals and Gland Pharma Pvt Ltd.

Besides, in 2003, he was awarded 'IPA- Shri Ramanbhai B. Patel Life Time Achievement Award' and 'IPA-Eminent Pharmacist Award' in 2006 for the services rendered in the fields of Pharmacy Profession through Regulatory Affairs & Industry. He was also awarded Acharya P C Ray Memorial Gold Medal- 2008, by the IPA, West Bengal Branch, Kolkota. In recognition of his contribution to the field of Pharmacy Profession, Gopalakrishna Murty has been awarded Honorary Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Westbrook University, USA in 2008.