Drug firm Strides Pharma has appointed R. Ananthanarayanan as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD).

Ananthanarayanan was earlier the Global Chief Operating Officer of Cipla and is succeeding the company’s Founder, CEO & MD Arun Kumar, who will become the chairman of the company from April.

Prior to Strides Pharma, Ananthanarayanan has held several leadership positions with P&L responsibility and comes with over 30 years of experience. rior to Cipla, Ananthanarayanan was global pharmaceutical giant Teva Pharmaceutical Industries' president & CEO of bulk drugs and biologics division. He has also held leadership roles at Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Piramal Healthcare and Zydus Cadila.

Having founded Strides and led the company for close to 30 years, I believe the time is right for me to step aside and have Ananth lead it to greater heights," Kumar said. He further shared,  “As he (Ananthanarayanan) takes on the mantle of Strides, I will now move to a more strategic role as the Chairman of the Board and will dedicate time to Strides' newly announced investments in Biotech and sterile injectables," Kumar was quoted in media.

As part of the transition, Kumar will hand over his active responsibilities at Strides by March end.