Dr. Ramdas Pai, Chairman, Manipal Education and Medical Group, is pleased to announce the appointment of D. A. Prasanna as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Manipal Acunova Ltd. He was previously the Vice Chairman of the company and has been handed the reigns of chairmanship from Dr Ramdas Pai. Manipal Acunova Limited is the holding company of Ecron Acunova GmbH and Acunova Life Sciences Inc.
Speaking on the development, Dr. Pai said ?I served as the first Chairman of Manipal Acunova Ltd., and in the last five years this company has grown from a start-up to a successful and stable CRO. Starting services as a clinical trials lab in 2005 and BA/BE service in our Cancer Hospital, it has grown in services in India, established presence in Europe and has gained reputation for its quality of services. Recent industry survey has ranked the company amongst leading CRO?s of India. Credit for much of this goes to the leadership of Prasanna and his team in India and Europe.?
He further added, ?I have known Prasanna and his contribution to the health care technology industry from his GE Healthcare time. He served in leadership positions in MEMG before he founded and established Manipal Acunova. I have enjoyed working with him and the eminent members of the Board. I hand over the chairmanship to him and wish him and the company a glorious journey into the future?.
Speaking on his appointment Mr. Prasanna said ?Our strategy is to accelerate the process of bringing new drugs to market, leveraging the two decades of experience in Western Europe with the advantages offered by the new clinical research geographies of India and Eastern Europe. We have built expertise in diabetes, cancer, diagnostics, heart disease and in stem cell therapy. We plan to expand our service to Americas and Asia. Dr Pai?s guidance to Manipal Acunova is invaluable and we look forward to his continued guidance?.
Manipal Acunova is a CRO founded by Prasanna and Manipal group. It offers clinical research services to pharmaceutical, biotech, nutritional, device and medical diagnostic companies. The company acquired Ecron, a European CRO in 2007 and expanded services to Western and Eastern Europe. Orbimed Advisors have provided growth funding in 2009 for expansion of services.
Prasanna has experience in leveraging Asian competitiveness building successful global business in medical technology for GE and software for Wipro. Considered a thought leader in Health care and Life Sciences, he has worked in global leadership positions. He serves on the board of various pharma companies and research institutes. Prasanna is acknowledged in the healthcare sector as the pioneer in creating a market for high tech. medical equipment and delivering clinical excellence at low patient fees in Asian Hospitals, through innovative strategies. He has also been a founding member of Wipro’s team that initiated the company’s entry into IT and was Vice Chairman of Wipro Ltd. Prasanna is an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad & GE Global Business Leadership Program at Crotonville.