Headline

Business Development & Strategic Partnership | Life Sciences & POC Diagnostics | Customer, KOL Engagement & Commercial Strategy | Ex-Thermo Fisher, Roche

About

I help diagnostics and med-tech companies turn scientific capability into commercial traction. Currently Business Development Manager at Achira Labs, a Bengaluru-based point-of-care diagnostics company. My work spans: * Strategic partnerships : Milestone-linked agreements with med-tech, pharma, and institutional partners, owned from first conversation through contracting and post-signature delivery * Market strategy : Opportunity pipeline built through territory modelling and business process re-engineering; mapped whitespace and access barriers across the diagnostics landscape to identify segments with potential advantage. * Product and R&D interface : Translated clinician and KOL requirements into engineering specifications; development timelines cut 20%. * Commercial execution : B2B expansion, clinical study coordination, KOL engagement, and scientific communications. Prior to Achira Labs, I spent 7 years across Thermo Fisher Scientific and Roche Molecular Systems. Launched 350+ products; helped build scientist-to-scientist (S2S) engagement programme that onboarded 250+ researchers and generated 7% of global commercial leads. Additionally, led a 10-person team through COVID-19 diagnostics operations; helped established CRISPR-based product validation programme and documented IP applications. What I'm actually useful for is the space between the lab and the market. I can read an product, size the market for it, and negotiate the agreement that gets it deployed. Open to conversations on strategic partnerships, product leadership, and commercial strategy.

Location

Greater Bengaluru Area

AI stack

claude

notion

openai

perplexity

Work experience

Business Development Manager at Achira Labs Pvt. Ltd., Nov 2023 - Present · 2 yrs 11 mos, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, Business Development: - Partnered directly with the CEO on partnership strategy; mapped whitespace and access barriers across the point-of-care diagnostics landscape to identify segments with potential advantage. - Delivered product demonstrations across multiple customer sites, trade shows and conferences; generated 100+ qualified leads. Strategic Corporate Partnerships: - Closed milestone-linked partnerships with med-tech and institutional accounts; owning the full cycle from first contact through contracting to post-signature milestone reporting and payment documentation. - Drove B2B expansion across healthcare, research, and government sectors; deployed outreach across 25+ Tier-3/4 locations Pan-India. - Help develop and nurture strategic partnerships with key corporate entities, leveraging a deep understanding of the medical diagnostics industry to foster mutually beneficial relationships. Cross-Functional Collaboration: - Translated clinician, KOL requirements into R&D & Engineering specifications, cutting development timelines 20%. - Established quarterly All-Hands meetings, aligning staff across departments on inter-dependencies & company direction. - Facilitate cross-functional collaboration, serving as a bridge between BD, operations, and R&D teams.

Product Business Development Manager at Laurus Bio, Sep 2023 - Nov 2023 · 3 mos, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, - Improved product portfolio-technical information, data pack, design and manage collaterals including presentations, technical datasheets etc. - Provided technical support to existing and new biotech/pharma accounts. - Helped conduct effective, accurate market research and analysis of biopharma, stem cells & cell culture supplement market.

Senior Scientist | Project Management at Thermo Fisher Scientific, Sep 2020 - Aug 2023 · 3 yrs, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, - Successfully established scientist-to-scientist (S2S) program in India; helped connect over 500 customers from academic background, generating 7% of marketing and commercial leads for the global sales team, within 18 months. - Successfully trained and managed a team of ten to provide critical support throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, including installation of qPCR diagnostic instruments and supporting immunoassays covering experimental design, execution, and data analysis. - Managed cross-functional teams to successfully launch over 350 products; prepared multiple SOPs for diverse techniques to ensure compliance with internal/external audits.

Scientist 1 | Product Development at Thermo Fisher Scientific, Sep 2017 - Aug 2020 · 3 yrs, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, - Spearheaded development project for recombinant antibodies; delegated protein conjugation and validation modules to support stability, performance, and release criteria for product launch. - Helped established CRISPR-program for product validation, resulting in a 15% increase in product launch conversions; presented progress reports to stakeholders, business partners, and key-opinion-leaders (KOLs). - Helped document intellectual property (IP) applications internally, for engineering product sensitivity, awaiting approval. - Formalized upstream modules and improved database management by 20% through better integration with downstream modules for final product output. - Trained colleagues & served as subject matter expert (SME) in quality assurance and control (QA/QC). - Experienced in GMP and GDP compliance; adept at Microsoft Excel, JMP, and GraphPad PRISM software. Projects: - Hybridoma to recombinant antibody conversion - Fc engineering for signal enhancement - KO cell model generation using CRISPR-Cas9 and NGS technology

Scientist II | Assay Development | Global Product Care at Roche Molecular Systems, Apr 2016 - Feb 2017 · 11 mos, Pleasanton, California, Assay Development - - Helped optimize performance and development of an IVD product for Cobas LIAT system specific to the detection of MRSA strain. - Assisted in solving performance issues pertaining product reagents. - Proficient documentation in accordance to GMP, GDP compliant to U.S. FDA standards. Blood screening team (Zika virus) - - Helped in solving customer complaints pertaining product care & instrument troubleshooting. - Performed weekly maintenance of high-throughput instruments; assisted troubleshooting of technical issues.

Research Assistant | Protein Biology at University of Central Florida, Dec 2013 - Dec 2015 · 2 yrs 1 mo, Greater Orlando, - Assisted in surgical extraction of endocrine tissue from transgenic mouse models. Performed tissue processing. - Prepared sub-cellular fractions and compared the expression levels of proteins with wild-type. - Analyzed the results, presented the data on a weekly basis and assessed the next experimental procedure. - Designed protocols/ experiments for both individual and team projects. Helped in repeating experiments to leverage reproducibility of the results. - Mentored undergraduates in their projects and experiments. - Isolated proteins in purest form and identified their expression level. - Cultured mammalian cell lines (McA-RH7777 and HepG2) exclusively to study cross-talk studies. - Performed pulse-chase assay using radioisotope (3H) labelling. - Regular maintenance of lab instruments and inventory checks.

Teaching Assistant | Human Physiology and Immunology Laboratory at University of Central Florida, Aug 2013 - Jul 2014 · 1 yr, Greater Orlando, - Mentored 4 assistants and conducted lab sessions for over 250 undergraduate students. - Lectured and explained experiments; evaluated lab reports, quizzes and tests.

Education

Master of Science (MS), Biotechnology, University of Central Florida

Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.), Biotechnology, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University