Saharsh Davuluri takes over as CEO & MD of Neuland and will lead the next phase of CDMO expansion

Neuland Laboratories [NLL] (NSE: NEULANDLAB; BSE:524558), a global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) specialising in complex APIs, has today announced a leadership change. Saharsh Davuluri will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, effective immediately, as the company moves into its next stage of CDMO growth.

Saharsh has been with the company for more than 18 years and will position the CDMO as a premier global API process development and commercial manufacturing specialist. Neuland's recent successes have been built on a growing reputation for scale-up of complex APIs and peptides, and the business has tripled its contract services revenues during the last 3-years.

Saharsh has led Neuland's transformation into a new chemical entity (NCE)-focused drug substance CDMO. In recent years, the company has secured a growing number of commercial manufacturing contracts with global innovator companies, reflecting rising demand for its strengths in process chemistry, scale-up, and reliable commercial supply.

Saharsh succeeds Sucheth Davuluri, who has played a key role in the Company's transformation towards a CDMO-focused business model and will now assume the role of Executive Vice Chairman of the Company.

"It's an incredibly exciting time for the wider CDMO sector, and for Neuland in particular, as global innovators increasingly come to us with their most complex chemistries and scale-up challenges. But we have not rested on these successes, and I will now be looking to further accelerate this growth transformation over the next five years. We have already committed to a four-phase expansion of commercial peptide capacity and are also doubling our process development capabilities," commented Saharsh Davuluri. He added, "The secret sauce behind our recent commercial success, however, has been our incredibly strong reputation for specialist process chemistries, accelerated development timelines and, of course, consistent commercial supply. Building scale is important, but our team's reputation as problem solvers and process innovators, coupled with consistent CMC delivery, is the real driver behind our rapidly growing number of biotech and big pharma partners."

Neuland is embarking on an aggressive expansion phase and could, pending customer approvals, secure several more commercial NCE contracts [including peptides] over the next one to two years.

The CDMO operates three US FDA-inspected manufacturing facilities and a 40,000 sq. ft. R&D facility, with 1218 KL of installed capacity and more than 20 commercial contracts across APIs and intermediates. The company's recent growth has been supported by its ability to accelerate development timelines through parallel development strategies, while maintaining a strong regulatory track record across 18 US FDA inspections.

Saharsh added: "We see immediate opportunities for commercial contract growth, particularly in areas such as peptides, but our CDMO investment approach is built around the innovation pipelines of our customers. So, we continue to structure our teams and capabilities to meet the evolving development needs of our partners.

"That means investing not just for near-term demand, but for the medium and long term. Our ambition is to become one of the world's top five API-focused CDMOs over the next decade."

Shares of Neuland Laboratories Limited was last trading in BSE at Rs. 12604.90 as compared to the previous close of Rs. 12012.65. The total number of shares traded during the day was 1430 in over 497 trades.

The stock hit an intraday high of Rs. 12775.50 and intraday low of 12250.00. The net turnover during the day was Rs. 18018004.00.

Source : Equity Bulls

Keywords

NeulandLaboratories INE794A01010 Pharmaceuticals CDMO LeadershipChange