Management Team

Ms. Nandini Piramal is the Chairperson at Piramal Pharma Limited. She is responsible for setting strategy and driving results at Piramal Pharma Limited. Piramal Pharma Limited offers a portfolio of differentiated products and services through its 17 global development and manufacturing facilities and a global distribution network in over 100 countries.

Additionally, she heads the Human Resources, Finance, Risk, Information Technology and Quality functions at Piramal Pharma Limited.

Ms. Piramal is also a Non-Executive Director, Piramal Enterprises Limited, and an advisor to Piramal Foundation which has impacted the lives of over 113 million Indians in its lifetime in areas ranging from gender, public health to education and purified water.

She is a visionary business leader driven by her commitment to bettering society. Her efforts in the business and social world led to her being recognized amongst 'India's Most Powerful Women' by Business Today in 2020 and 2022 for her outstanding contribution in business and social growth. She was also awarded as a 'Young Global Leader' in 2014 by the World Economic Forum.

Ms. Piramal holds a BA (Hons.) in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from Oxford University. She also has an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Mr. Peter DeYoung is the CEO of Piramal Global Pharma, Piramal Pharma Limited, and a member of the Piramal Pharma Limited Board. In his current role, Mr. DeYoung is responsible for steering strategy and driving profitable growth of the businesses. He has also previously handled leadership mandates as the CEO of Piramal Critical Care and President of Piramal Life Sciences.

Prior to Piramal Pharma Limited, Mr. DeYoung worked in various investing and consulting roles in healthcare across the USA, Europe, and India. After graduation, he joined McKinsey & Company in New York, working on projects for pharmaceutical and medical device companies. He was part of the Global Health Initiative at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Geneva, Switzerland. Post his stint with WEF, Mr. DeYoung returned to McKinsey, first in New York and later in Mumbai, where he focused on the pharmaceutical and healthcare practices. He played a role in significant transactions across a broad spectrum of industry sectors at McKinsey. After McKinsey, he joined the Blackstone Group’s Private Equity Division in Mumbai.

Mr. DeYoung holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering from Princeton University, graduating summa cum laude, before completing his Master’s in Business Administration from Stanford University, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar.

With over twenty- five years of overall experience in the field of finance, Mr. Vivek Valsaraj has been associated with the Piramal Group for over 21 years. He currently oversees the Finance and Shared Services Functions in the group. Mr. Valsaraj is also an Executive Director on the board of Piramal Pharma Limited and is serving on the board of the joint venture company Allergan India Private Limited and several overseas subsidiaries.

Within the group, he has been associated with various roles in Corporate and the erstwhile Domestic Formulations business. He also serves as the CFO of the Pharma business. His expertise spans across Corporate Finance, Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Corporate Structuring, Corporate Governance & Risks, and Taxation. Over the last several years, he has been closely associated with the Pharma business and has been a part of several key acquisitions and capital raising. He has also played a key role in streamlining and finessing systems, processes, and internal controls.

Prior to joining Piramal, he was associated with companies like Wockhardt Ltd and Bharat Bijlee Ltd. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce and is an associate member of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India.

Mr. Herve Berdou is the Chief Operating Officer at Piramal Pharma Limited (PPL) (PPS), where he leads the company’s operations across a worldwide network of drug substance and drug product facilities. His responsibilities include global R&D, Engineering, EHS, Project Management, Supply Chain, IT, Corporate Projects, and Established Products with a strong focus on customer and patient centricity, and quality assurance. Working in close collaboration with the commercial organization, Mr. Berdou and his teams are building strong, successful customer relationships.

Mr. Berdou’s expertise spans across global Supply Chain, Procurement, and Operations at pharmaceutical innovator companies, CDMOs, and the Generics businesses. Prior to joining PPS, Mr. Berdou worked at Lonza as the VP for Global Operations and Proposals Cell and Gene Technologies. He also held key roles at Novartis and AstraZeneca-Medimmune in the past.

In his career, he has worked and lived in Europe, the Middle East, and the United States.

Stuart Needleman currently holds the position of Chief Commercial Officer at Piramal Pharma Solutions (PPS), overseeing the company's global business development initiatives. Leading a diverse portfolio of services encompassing drug discovery, clinical development, and commercial supply of both drug substances and products, Mr. Needleman has consistently driven the business development team to achieve record-breaking results throughout his tenure. His expertise lies in steering sustainable growth at attractive margins and cultivating seamless, integrated solutions for drug development and manufacturing.

Mr. Needleman is also responsible for driving profitable growth for the company’s API Generics and Nutrition Solutions Businesses.

In addition to his role as Chief Commercial Officer, Mr. Needleman serves as the Chief Patient Centricity Officer for PPS. In this capacity, his mission is to instill patient-centric behavior throughout the global organization. Ensuring that all employees, from the production floor to the executive suite, comprehend their role in advancing the company's goal of alleviating the burden of disease on patients is central to his responsibilities.

With nearly five decades of experience in the pharmaceutical services industry, Mr. Needleman is a recognized authority in the contract services segment. His leadership roles have spanned global business development, sales and marketing, and operations. Prior to joining Piramal Pharma Solutions (PPS), he held the position of President at Laurus Synthesis, a subsidiary of Laurus Labs, and served as President and Chief Operating Officer at Aptuit, a prominent global contract services company. Over the course of his career, Mr. Needleman has played pivotal roles at Cambrex, Oxford Asymmetry, ChiRex, and Rhodia Pharma Solutions.

Mr. Needleman holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering and an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI).

Mr. Jeffrey Hampton is the President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Piramal Critical Care (PCC). At PCC, he leads the company’s Global Operations, Regulatory Affairs, Sales and Marketing, EHS, IT, Business and Product Development, and Program and Alliance Management functions. Mr. Hampton is responsible for driving PCC’s global business by leading strategy and developing growth plans, positioning the organization to capture market share in the industry, and building and sustaining relationships with Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs), customers, channel partners, product developers and manufacturers.

Mr. Hampton’s career spans over three decades and his expertise lies across global sales and marketing, commercial operations, and distribution strategies for pharmaceutical organizations. Prior to joining PCC, Mr. Hampton was the President at Accord Healthcare and was responsible for accelerating the firm’s growth strategy. He has also held key positions at Apotex, Osmotica, Dabur and IVAX/Teva Pharmaceuticals.

Mr. Hampton holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from University of Florida and resides in North Carolina.

Mr. Nitish Bajaj is the CEO of Consumer Products Division, Piramal Enterprises Limited. He brings with him extensive experience and knowledge in business and marketing strategy, process restructuring, innovation, digitization, media planning, entry strategy and merger & acquisition in the Consumer Healthcare and Automotive space. He has been instrumental in launching and building the architecture of global power brands through robust consumer in-sights and by creating innovation pipelines.

Prior to joining Piramal, Mr. Bajaj was Senior Vice President, Marketing at CEAT Tyres and has worked with organizations such as Reckitt Benckiser (India) Limited, Ranbaxy Global Consumer Healthcare and Heinz India Private Limited.

Mr. Bajaj holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad; and a Degree in Bachelor of Technology in Metallurgical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (BHU).

Ms. Rashida Najmi heads the Corporate Quality and Pharmacovigilance function at Piramal Pharma Limited (PPL). She is responsible for establishing and implementing related quality standards, handling inspections and maintaining regulatory track records of various regulatory agencies like FDA, MHRA, PMD etc. to name a few.

She has over 26 years of experience in quality management of NDA, INDA, CRO, API- intermediates, API (drug substance), various dosage formulations (drug product), product development, clinical, pharmacovigilance and biologic with renowned companies like Shreya Life Sciences and ACG.

During Ms. Najmi’s ongoing tenure at Piramal, she has successfully maintained the compliance benchmark higher than the regulatory requirement at all Pharma Solutions’ manufacturing sites across geographies. She is also instrumental in establishing ‘Quality’ as a differentiator for business growth and harmonizing “best in class” quality practices across Piramal.

Ms. Najmi is a Pharmacist and a postgraduate in Human Resources and is a Qualified Lead Auditor in ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 (from QMI, UK), certified in HACCP (from UN/ FAO), 5’S’ (from JMA), OHSAS.

In July 2015, World Quality Congress awarded Ms. Najmi with the title of “50 Most Influential Quality Professionals”. She has been a jury member in several academic and quality awards and an active member of industry forums like ISPE, IDMA, PDA and OPPI.

Mr. Jatin Lal is President, Mergers & Acquisitions at Piramal Pharma Limited. He is responsible for acquisitions, strategic investments, and business development at Piramal Pharma Limited.

He joined Piramal Enterprises Limited in 2003 as part of its strategic planning team. He has since led several strategic initiatives and M&A transactions for Piramal Pharma Limited. He brings experience of over 25 years from work across mergers and acquisition, business development, strategy, and consulting.

Prior to joining Piramal, Mr. Lal had worked with Stern Stewart, GE Capital and NOCIL.

Mr. Lal holds a Bachelor of Technology degree from IIT Kharagpur and a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management from XLRI, Jamshedpur.

Mr. Sandeep K. Rathod, General Counsel at Piramal Pharma Limited, is responsible for overseeing the legal and compliance functions across Piramal Pharma Limited (PPL) and its overseas subsidiaries.

Mr. Rathod joined Piramal Pharma Limited in March 2023 and has helped strengthen and organize legal and compliance functions at Piramal Pharma Limited. He plays a crucial role in identifying, mitigating, and managing legal risk across Piramal Pharma Limited. Mr. Rathod plays an important role in executing corporate transactions, advising on complex intellectual property aspects, and managing the compliance program at Piramal Pharma Limited. He has recently worked on Piramal Pharma Limited’s fund raise of INR 1,050 crore from the Indian stock markets.

Prior to joining Piramal Pharma Limited, Mr. Rathod has worked with companies such as J.B. Chemicals and Mylan (Viatris). His experience covers litigation, corporate transactions / brand buy-outs, government policy advisory, teaching and writing on issues impacting pharmaceuticals and access to pharmaceuticals.

Mr. Rathod is a qualified lawyer and holds LL.B. and LL.M. degrees from Mumbai University as well as a LL.M. degree from University of Pittsburgh.

Mr. Viral Gandhi is President and Group Chief Information Officer, Piramal Group. As a Digital and Change leader, he is responsible for driving tech innovation and reinvention across the Group entities. He enables the businesses to gain competitive advantage by leveraging technology and digital-led platforms to boost engagement with all stakeholders, across touch points.

Mr. Gandhi is a Technology & Digital Strategist with deep expertise in building and implementing innovative technology solutions and establish strong technology culture to transform organisations and propel business growth.

Prior to joining Piramal Group, Mr. Gandhi served as Chief Information Officer at the Cox & Kings Group and was instrumental in driving business transformation through consumer tech solutions across the group companies, globally. Previously, during his tenure at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), he partnered with several Fortune 100 clients such as General Electric, NASDAQ, World Bank, HP and Procter & Gamble, in their technology transformation journeys.

With over two and half decades of rich experience, Mr. Gandhi has been conferred with several prestigious awards for his contributions in the field of technology and innovation.

Mr. Gandhi has completed an Executive Leadership Program from Harvard Business School, USA and a Strategy and Innovation Program from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering from VJTI, Mumbai, India.

Ms. Puneet Rajput is the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) for Piramal Pharma Limited. Ms. Rajput comes with more than two decades of rich and diverse experience in pharma, telecom, life sciences and consulting industries. She is an experienced leader in aligning HR strategy with business strategy, diverse organization models, large/small scale M&A integrations, Organization Design and Development, Diversity and Inclusion, Digital HR, Sustainability and CSR, and developing HR business teams and leadership teams.

Prior to joining Piramal Pharma Limited, Ms. Rajput was the Senior Director – HR (India and South Asia) and Regional HRBP Leader for Asia Pacific and Japan, Thermo Fisher Scientific. Previously, Ms. Rajput has worked with Vodafone and Wockhardt Ltd.

Ms. Rajput completed her Chief Human Resources Officer Program from The Wharton School and Masters in HR, Personnel Management and Industrial Relations from the University of Mumbai.