Stelis Biopharma strengthens its Board with experienced industry leadership and diversity

Stelis Biopharma Limited(Stelis or Company), a vertically integrated biopharma and vaccines company and the biotech arm of Strides Pharma Science Limited(Strides, BSE: 532531 NSE: STAR), today announced the strengthening of the thought leadership at the Board with induction of new members bringing rich experience and diversity.

The Company informed that Aditya Puri, Former Managing Director of HDFC Bank, has taken over as the Chairperson of the Board. He is also chairing the nomination and remuneration committee of the Board.

Besides this, Stelis has also appointed Vineeta Rai, former IAS officer, as an Independent Director of the Company. She has been inducted to the Board, and she is also chairing the Board's audit committee.

Commenting on the update, Arun Kumar, Founder, Strides Group, said, "We are very pleased to have Aditya taking over as the Chairperson and Vineeta joining the Stelis Board. We are making significant investments and efforts to enable our strategic play, and enhancing the governance and Board oversight has been one of our key priorities.

Our Board is enriched with deep insights, industry thought leadership, and diversity. We will continue to add thought leaders to the Board, and we shall look forward to their valuable experience to drive a sustainable growth strategy for Stelis."

The Stelis Board now comprises six members, and their brief profile is as below:

Aditya Puri, Non-Executive Director & Chairperson

Aditya Puri is the former MD of HDFC Bank, India's largest private sector bank. He was the longestserving head of any private bank in the country. India Today ranked him at #24 in India's 50 Most Powerful People of 2017 list. He is qualified as a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and has many accolades in his fold.

Vineeta Rai, Independent Director & Chairperson of Audit Committee

Vineeta Rai is a former IAS officer and the first woman to hold the post of Revenue Secretary in the Ministry of Finance. She has held posts in the Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and Ministry of Home Affairs. She was voted one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in business in India in 2004.

Arun Kumar, Founder

Arun is a first-generation entrepreneur with the intellect of picking "difficult to operate" domains with high scarcity value. He is a recipient of the E&Y Entrepreneur of the year award in the Healthcare sector in 2000, Business Today "India Best CEO Award (Mid- Sized Companies Category)," and the "Best CEO in the Pharma & Healthcare Industry" in 2014.

Ankur Thadani, Non-Executive Director

Ankur is a partner at TPG Growth. He has worked on investments in multiple sectors, including healthcare, Energy, and Consumer sectors across India and the broader South-Asia region. He also serves on the Boards of Cancer Treatment Services International, Rhea Healthcare, and Sutures India.

Mahadevan N, Non-Executive Director

Mahadevan is a Senior Advisor at TPG Capital. He was the former Advisory Leader at Grant Thornton. He has significant experience in private equity, mergers and acquisitions, valuations, healthcare, medical devices, life sciences, business improvement, and capital markets.

PR Kannan, Executive Director and CFO

Kannan has 20+ years of experience in finance, strategy, taxation and M&A. He has been with the Strides Group for over a decade and was the CFO for SeQuent Scientific Limited. He is credited to have led SeQuent towards sustainable growth and delivered significant stakeholder value.

Earlier this year, Stelis concluded its Series B and Series C fundraiser for a cumulative amount of ~US$200 million (approximately Rs 1,500 Crore). The fundraising was led by the family office of the founders/promoter family and other marquee investors, including TPG Growth, Route One, and Think Investments. Post this fundraise, Stelis would have invested over ~US$ 300 million (approximately Rs. 2,200 Crores) to create world-class infrastructure and become a strong player in the biopharma and vaccine space. Stelis is now well-positioned to pursue growth initiatives and scale its business model to build a sustainable business in the coming years. Currently, the Company is in the process of achieving a listing for itself in India.

Shares of STRIDES PHARMA SCIENCE LIMITED was last trading in BSE at Rs. 776.45 as compared to the previous close of Rs. 784.4. The total number of shares traded during the day was 60332 in over 2396 trades.

The stock hit an intraday high of Rs. 791 and intraday low of 766.4. The net turnover during the day was Rs. 46784049.

Source : Equity Bulls

Keywords