Biocon Biologics appoints Kedar Upadhye as new chief financial officer

Former Cipla global chief financial officer (CFO) Kedar Upadhye is appointed as the new CFO of Biocon Biologics. Current CFO, MB Chinappa will take on a strategic finance role at Biocon Group. These leadership changes will be effective October 31, 2023.

Chinappa has served as CFO of Biocon Biologics since his appointment in January 2020 and has played an integral role in developing business strategy and enabling profitable growth. "He has helped secure over $500 million in private equity investment and was instrumental in the company's recent $3 billion-plus acquisition of Viatris' global biosimilars business in 2022 and its strategic vaccines partnership with the Serum Institute of India," Biocon said in a statement.

 

A Biocon veteran, Chinappa joined the Biocon Group in 1999 as a key member of the finance leadership team where he was part of several strategic initiatives including Biocon Limited's successful initial public offering (IPO) in 2004. Subsequently, he moved to Biocon's research services subsidiary, Syngene, as the CFO in 2008 where he played a significant role in driving business strategy and growth and oversaw a successful public listing in 2015. He joined Biocon Biologics as the CFO in 2020 and has been instrumental in setting up the finance function and driving several strategic initiatives at the company.

Given Chinappa's deep understanding and experience at each of the group companies' businesses during his 24-year tenure with Biocon Group, he will be moving to a strategic finance role and will work with Peter Bains, the recently appointed group CEO, Biocon, the company said. Chinappa has played an important role in the multi-billion-dollar acquisition of Viatris' global biosimilars business and set up the organisation for success.

Shreehas Tambe, CEO and managing director, Biocon Biologics said that Upadhye joins us at an inflection point in our journey to become a leading global biosimilars company as we look to consolidate and unlock value in the acquired business.

Peter Bains, group CEO, Biocon Limited, said, "I look forward to working closely with Chinappa in his new role as we look to identify and leverage synergies across the Biocon Group and create further value for all stakeholders. Having worked at all group companies, he is uniquely positioned for this role."

Kedar Upadhye has over 23 years of experience in senior global leadership at leading pharma, energy and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) players such as Cipla, Dr. Reddy's, PepsiCo, and Thermax.

He joined Biocon from ReNew Energy Global Plc, a NASDAQ-listed decarbonisation, and renewable energy company, where he was the chief financial officer (CFO).