Strides Pharma Science Limited (Strides) on Friday said that eminent corporate doyen Aditya Puri joins the Strides Group as an Advisor and also will be a director of its associate company, Stelis Biopharma (Stelis). The company said this in its statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
With Stelis poised for its next leg of growth, this is the right time to expand the board, and ensure robust guidance and governance by the best possible industry minds, the company statement read.
After a highly successful career in HDFC Bank, Puri, retired in October 2020. He led HDFC Bank since its inception over 25 years ago and made the bank the largest among private sector lenders. Prior to setting up HDFC Bank, Puri was Chief Executive Officer of Citibank, Malasiya. With nearly two decades of overall banking experience across markets with Citibank.
Further Puri has been conferred with several prestigious awards, accolades and titles for his exceptional contribution to Indian industry, including successive appearances in Barron’s world’s 30 best CEOs lists, Fortune's global top 50 business persons list in 2016, the India Today Power List for 2019, and the Lifetime Achievement Award by Euromoney Awards of Excellence 2020, to name a few.
Aditya Puri was inducted into the Chartered Accountants Hall of Fame by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), becoming the first member of ICAI to be honored with this award(3). A profile by the Economist in October 2020 describing him as the world's best banker.
Puri's appointment to the Stelis board comes at an exciting juncture for the company as it transitions from its incubation phase to a consolidation and growth phase to establish itself as a partner of choice globally. Moreover, it aims of bringing world-class treatments at affordable costs to patients in both emerging and developed markets, the company said.
Headquartered in Bengaluru, Strides Group's global manufacturing sites are located in India, Singapore, Italy, Kenya and the United States. It focuses on difficult to manufacture products that are sold in over 100 countries.
The company mainly operates in the regulated markets and has an “in Africa for Africa" strategy along with an institutional business to service donor-funded markets.
Arun Kumar, Founder and Chairman of the Board of Strides, said: “I am delighted to welcome Aditya as our advisor and to the Stelis board. This a huge vote of confidence in the potential of Stelis. Aditya's illustrious legacy is well-known. Having nurtured HDFC Bank since inception, his deep experience will be extremely valuable for the Strides Group and Stelis in particular."
