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Our Leadership

Jonathan Hunt

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer

Jonathan holds a BA (Business Studies & Economics) degree from the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom and has done his MBA from Durham University, United Kingdom. He is responsible for leading Syngene’s business operations as well as steering its investments in developing and strengthening its capabilities and capacities. He has more than 25 years of extensive experience in the global biopharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Syngene, he held leadership positions at AstraZeneca for over a decade, including President and Director of AstraZeneca, Austria, and President and Chief Operating Officer, AstraZeneca, India. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of Syngene since 2016 and is a member of the Stakeholders Relationship and ESG Committee, the Risk Management Committee and the Science and Technology Committee.

Mahesh Bhalgat

Chief Operating Officer

Mahesh holds a Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Utah, the USA, and a bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy from the University of Mumbai. He has 30 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical, vaccine and pharma industries. Mahesh has worked and led different facets of R&D, analytical development, manufacturing and operations, technology transfer, regulatory sciences, quality and capital projects. During a 20-year US stint, he worked with Amgen, Monsanto, Celera Genomics and Molecular Probes (now Thermo Fisher). After moving to India, Mahesh was part of the team that brought WHO prequalification approvals for four vaccines in Biological E. Just before joining Syngene, he was the Chief Operating Officer at Shantha Biotechnics, a Sanofi company, where his responsibilities included operations, quality, supply chain, long-term strategic planning, manufacturing science and technology and human resources. Mahesh is a member of the CII National Committee on Technology, R&D and Innovation. At Syngene, Mahesh is the Chief Operating Officer and a member of the Executive Committee.

Sibaji Biswas

Chief Financial Officer

Sibaji is a certified Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) from ICFAI and holds a B.Tech from IIT- Kharagpur. With an MBA from University of Calcutta he has also completed Management Development Programs at Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad and London Business School. He has over 20 years of extensive experience in finance and related functions. His prior experience includes working with Vodafone (Romania), Vodafone (India), Hutchison Essar Limited, Fascel Limited, and the ABP Group. Prior to joining Syngene, he was the CFO and a member of the Board at Vodafone (Romania). At Syngene, he oversees the finance, supply chain, legal, secretarial and IT functions and as a member of the Executive Committee, he plays an important role in driving strategy, improving profitability, identifying new opportunities, improving cash generation and enabling organizational growth.

Andrew-Webster

Andrew Webster

Chief Human Resources Officer

Andrew holds a Business Studies degree from Blackburn College of Technology, UK, and a professional qualification from the Institute of Personnel Management awarded by Salford Technical College, UK. His broad experience in the Human Resources function includes management of mergers and acquisitions; driving culture change; building a leadership and talent pipeline; and delivering a diversity agenda.

Andrew joined Syngene in December 2022 from management consultancy, Teneo, Hong Kong. Prior to joining Teneo he was CHRO for global retail group, DFS and held HR leadership roles at global biopharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca PLC. He started his career as an HR professional in the UK retail groups House of Fraser and Marks and Spencer PLC. Andrew is a member of the Executive Committee.

Alok Mehrotra

Chief Quality Officer

Alok holds an M. Tech in Chemical Technology (Food Technology) from Harcourt Butler Technological Institute. He comes with more than 25 years of experience spread across Manufacturing Operations, Quality Assurance, Sustainability/EHS, Production, and Supplier Technical Assurance across varied industries. Over the years, Alok has worked with leading corporates, including Dr. Reddy’s, Reckitt Benckiser, Pepsi Foods Ltd,  Godrej Foods, and Beverages Ltd. In his recent assignment as Head of Global Quality Management at Dr. Reddy’s, he harmonized and integrated Quality management systems Globally and was also responsible for quality from all external suppliers and vendors. As Syngene’s CQO, Alok leads the Quality and Compliance function and will be in charge of initiatives to further strengthen our track record in quality and compliance

Kenneth Barr

Senior Vice President – Discovery Services

Kenneth holds a Ph.D. in Synthetic Organic/Organometallic Chemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has pursued his Postdoctoral study in Natural product synthesis from the University of Texas. He has over two decades of experience in the areas of drug discovery for both small molecules and biologics and has been associated with organisations like Merck, Amplyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Sunesis. Prior to joining Syngene, Kenneth was the Head of R&D Strategic Global Operations at FORMA Therapeutics, where he was responsible for driving research effectiveness through optimisation of internal and external R&D research efforts, providing alliance management for key CRO relationships.

Joydeep Kant

Senior Vice President – Development Services

Joydeep is an organic chemist with a Ph.D. from the University of Missouri (USA) and postdoctoral training in medicinal-organic chemistry from the University of Kansas School of Pharmacy (USA). Joydeep has over 30 years of experience in global pharmaceutical companies like Zoetis, Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson Matthey Pharmaceuticals, and Ranbaxy at various levels. He has a track record of scientific and leadership contributions to human and animal health drug development programs, including drug discovery and manufacturing in the USA and India. Coupled with his passion for science is his distinctive innovation track record, including patents, publications in peer-reviewed journals, monographs, and technical presentations at international symposia, conferences, and academic institutions.

Alex Del Priore

Senior Vice President - Manufacturing

Alex has three decades of experience in developing, commercializing and life-cycle management of products in various life science industries. Holding positions in both the US and Europe, his experience includes senior roles with global P&L responsibility. Alex was Vice President Operations and Health COO at Johnson Matthey in Greater London in his last assignment. In addition, he has been instrumental in M&A, strategy development and new product introduction.

As a member of the Executive Committee, Alex plays a techno-commercial role, providing technical expertise to the API plant at Mangalore while building a sustainable client base for the business in collaboration with the commercial and business development teams. In addition, Alex is also responsible for biologics operations. Alex is based in Center Valley, Pennsylvania, USA.

Caroline-Hempstead

Caroline Hempstead

Head of Corporate Affairs

Caroline Hempstead has a degree in French studies from Manchester University, UK. She has more than 30 years of experience in Corporate Affairs roles in multinationals in sectors ranging from financial services and oil & gas to pharmaceuticals. She joined Syngene in 2019 as Head of Corporate Affairs. Prior to joining Syngene, she held similar roles at AstraZeneca plc and LafargeHolcim (now Holcim), preceded by leadership roles in corporate communications at Royal Dutch Shell, Inchcape plc and the London Stock Exchange. As a member of the Executive Committee and the ESG Council, her responsibilities encompass corporate communications and Environment, Social and Governance activity.

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