Sekhmet Pharmaventures appoints Sumit Kumar as CCO, Jitendra Jalan as CHRO

PAG-led Sekhmet Pharmaventures has appointed Sumit Kumar as chief commercial officer and Jitendra Jalan as chief human resources officer, bolstering its leadership team as the company enters its next phase of global expansion.

The appointments come as Sekhmet sharpens its focus on scaling its fully integrated active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) platform, while building organisational depth to support sustained growth.

Kumar brings more than 24 years of experience across APIs, formulations and global regulatory environments. He previously spent 15 years at Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories and most recently served as chief commercial officer at Cohance Lifesciences, where he led portfolio expansion, process optimisation and customer service initiatives. At Sekhmet, Kumar will lead business development and export growth, with a focus on expanding the company’s footprint across regulated and semi-regulated markets.

Jalan joins as chief human resources officer with over 25 years of multidisciplinary leadership experience spanning sales, operations and HR. He has held senior roles at companies including USV, ACC, Endress+Hauser India and Astral Glass. At Sekhmet, Jalan will focus on strategic HR partnering, leadership development and strengthening a high-performance, people-centric culture aligned with the company’s global ambitions.

Sekhmet has reported strong business momentum in FY26 under its current leadership. The company said it has recorded more than 25% growth in EBITDA over the first eight months of the fiscal year, driven by increased global customer confidence in its integrated API and CDMO capabilities.

Commenting on the appointments, Santosh Mahil, managing director and chief executive of Sekhmet, said the additions would strengthen both commercial and organisational leadership at a time of accelerated growth. “As a fully integrated API and CDMO platform, we are seeing strong demand across our businesses. These appointments enhance our ability to address evolving global customer needs with agility and sustainability at the core,” he said.

Nikhil Srivastava, co-head of private equity at PAG, said the leadership changes were part of the firm’s broader transformation programme for Sekhmet. He added that the new appointments would help accelerate the company’s progress in expanding its API and CDMO operations.

As global pharmaceutical companies increasingly seek reliable manufacturing and development partners, Sekhmet’s leadership refresh signals its intent to compete more aggressively in international markets while strengthening internal capabilities to support long-term growth.