Manoj Mehrotra is President of Pharma Business at Hikal Limited. He is responsible for the P&L management of contract services and generic APIs. Prior to Hikal, Manoj was Head of Custom Pharma Services at Dr Reddy’s. He a Chemical Engineer from the Indian Institute of Technology and a post graduate in Business Management.
Maximizing opportunities in CDMO
Highlights from our discussion with Manoj Mehrotra, President – Pharmaceuticals, and Dr Rakesh Ganorkar, Head – CDMO, R&T, at Hikal Ltd.
An exciting space
The CDMO space is very exciting right now, as big pharma companies are moving away from manufacturing intermediates and APIs themselves, and looking for reliable outsourcing partners. Hikal is in a good position to take advantage of those opportunities because, as companies look to de-risk from China, and as many European partners are already working to full capacity, more and more companies are turning to India for solutions.
“Pharma companies are looking at India far more seriously than they did 5 years ago,” says Manoj. “They are looking for reliable partners, and we are in a good position to make sure that we make the most of every opportunity that comes our way.”
Investing in the future
Rakesh Ganorkar is the Head of R&T for the CDMO vertical at Hikal. He has over 20 years of experience in Process Development, Custom Synthesis, API Generics, Analytical Method Development, Medicinal Chemistry and Personal Product Development. Rakesh holds a PhD degree from University of Vermont (USA), a Masters degree in Analytical Chemistry, and a Masters in HR Management.
In order to ensure that Hikal can meet the requirements that will come with those opportunities, the company is expanding, with a steady and ambitious investment programme. The company has earmarked a budget of more than $50 million for investment and expansion of R&D centres, which is already in progress, and there is further investment in new capacities for manufacturing. In particular, Hikal is investing in flow chemistry and high potency API (HPAPI).
“We are investing in a dedicated lab for continuous flow chemistry,” explains Rakesh. “This includes a dedicated team, working with the latest equipment, and this this lab is all set up now, so work has begun with regard to flow chemistry experiments. Apart from this, we are investing in a HPAPI containment facility at one of our manufacturing sites, so we can work in the HPAPI space. We are also evaluating amino acids, and the natural progression will then be to get into peptides. We are already into enzymatic chemistry – biocatalysis – and we have several of these processors wherein we are using enzymatic chemistry on a commercial scale for our APIs, using different types of enzymes.”
Hikal (Pharma Business) has three manufacturing facilities in India: one in Gujarat (Panoli) and two in Karnataka, Bengaluru Last year, the company built new production blocks at both its Panoli and Bengaluru facilities, adding almost 200 m3 of capacity. A further 200 m3 of capacity will be commissioned by the end 2023.
Guided by science
Deciding which technologies to invest in is not easy for any company, but Hikal is mentored by a distinguished scientific advisory board comprising three well-known scientists who offer valuable input into technical and commercial matters.
“Our advisory board is always available for consultation,” says Manoj. “We have a formal meeting every 6 months, where our team leaders present every function to them, to make sure we are on the right track. Their input has been very valuable throughout the years in helping us with the development of various API and CDMO projects.”
Sustainability
Sustainability is very important topic for Hikal. In fact, all of the company’s manufacturing and commercial processes consider sustainability. The use of renewable energy is encouraged – so much so, that the company’s Bengaluru facility receives almost 80% of its energy requirements from solar or wind power.
There are several initiatives across the company to reduce the organisation’s carbon footprint, and in 2023 Hikal will be publishing a full sustainability report.
Good to be back!
Finally, we asked the Hikal team how they were finding DCAT Week 2022, after a 2-year break due to COVID.
“It’s good to come back into circulation to meet customers face to face,” says Manoj. This is where you can develop relationships, and also look at new business opportunities. DCAT is a very good forum – customers come from all over the world, with excellent networking opportunities. It’s good to be back!”
DCAT Week is the premier global event held annually in New York City for companies engaged in the Bio/Pharmaceutical manufacturing value chain. It is hosted by the Drug, Chemical & Associated Technologies Association (DCAT), a not-for-profit, corporate member-supported, and volunteer-led global business development association for companies engaged in the Bio/Pharmaceutical manufacturing value chain. Learn more at
