Purpose, Precision, Performance | Dr Devendra Ridhurkar on Leading Modern Pharma

Pharma Now: Throughout your career, you have worked across diverse roles in pharma. What leadership philosophies have consistently guided you, and how have they evolved with industry changes?

Dr. Ridhurkar: It’s been 2 decades working in pharmaceutical research and development. I have worked in various role from formulation scientist, subject matter expert to R&D head and CEO. Across every role, one philosophy has remained constant: patients are the ultimate stakeholders. Whether working in R&D, operations, strategy, or executive leadership, I’ve always believed that commercial success and patient impact are not opposing goals they are deeply interconnected.

My major emphasis is on Innovations, empowerment, cross-functional collaboration, and long-term value creation. At RidNova Pharma, we majorly focus on these values and strongly follow:

• Purpose-driven performance
• People-centric leadership
• Agility with integrity

Pharma Now: How do you approach building organizational resilience in times of uncertainty, whether due to regulatory shifts, market disruptions, or global crises?

Dr. Ridhurkar: At RidNova Pharma, we view resilience as a combination of preparedness, adaptability, and mindset. From a structural perspective, this means diversifying our research to various dosage forms and different modalities, strengthening regulatory intelligence, and investing in new technology, AI/ML and automations that improve visibility and decision-making.

Pharma Now: In your view, what differentiates a “good manager” from a “transformational leader” in the pharmaceutical sector?

Dr. Ridhurkar: In pharma, a good manager focuses on innovations, targets, timelines, compliance, and efficiency. These are essential, especially in a highly regulated pharmaceutical industry. However, a transformational leader goes further they challenge assumptions, encourage innovation, and inspire people to see beyond their immediate roles.

In my view the leaders require three additional qualities to be successful:

• Scientific curiosity
• Courage to innovate responsibly
• Ability to inspire purpose

Pharma Now: Pharma is witnessing an explosion of digital tools—AI, automation, Industry 4.0. How do you filter through the noise and identify which technologies truly bring long-term value to operations and patients?

Dr. Ridhurkar: In today’s environment, the real challenge is not access to technology, it is discernment. Not every digital trend translates into meaningful impact for pharma.

At RidNova Pharma, we evaluate new technologies through three clear lenses 1) patient and quality impact to check ultimately improve product quality, safety, traceability, or speed-to-patient.2) Scalability and integration for the complex pharma systems. And 3) Regulatory and data integrity alignment for a highly regulated industry, innovation must be inspection ready.

AI, automation, continuous manufacturing and Industry 4.0 are powerful, but we adopt them with a problem-first mindset, not a technology-first mindset. The goal is sustainable value, not digital decoration.

Pharma Now: What are the risks of over-reliance on digitalization in pharma, and how do you maintain a balance between technology adoption and human judgment?

Dr. Ridhurkar: One major risk of over-digitalization is false confidence in data outputs. Algorithms can detect patterns, but they cannot fully interpret context, especially in areas like complex formulation process optimizations, regulatory audits, quality deviations, pharmacokinetics or clinical study data, or process anomalies. Human expertise remains critical for interpretation and ethical judgment.

At RidNova Pharma, we position technology as a decision-support tool, not a decision-maker. We invest equally in digital capability and in strengthening scientific, regulatory, and operational expertise within our teams.

Pharma Now: Could you share a case where the adoption of a new technology or process under your leadership had a measurable impact on efficiency, safety, or cost-effectiveness?

Dr. Ridhurkar: One impactful example was the implementation of an integrated continuous manufacturing and inline and online analysis system across a key production line.

Before this initiative, batch manufacturing, and offline analysis, tracking, and process monitoring involved a combination of number of samplings during the manufacturing process, manual entries and many offline sample analyses in the laboratory. This created delays in batch release and limited real-time visibility into process variations.

We introduced a unified digital platform as well as PAT tools for the continuous manufacturing that enabled:

• Real-time process parameter monitoring
• Electronic batch records (EBR)
• Automated deviation alerts and trend analysis
• Less waste and higher yields
• Reduction in the cost and time for manufacturing

Pharma Now: Regulatory expectations are becoming stricter globally. How can leaders foster a culture where compliance is seen not as an obligation, but as an enabler of quality and trust?

Dr. Ridhurkar: Compliance should never be positioned as a barrier to speed or innovation, it is the foundation of credibility in the pharmaceutical industry.

Leaders play a critical role in reframing compliance from a “check-the-box” activity to a patient-centred responsibility. When teams understand that every SOP, validation step, and documentation requirement ultimately protects a patient somewhere in the world, compliance becomes a matter of purpose, not pressure.

Pharma Now: With increasing global harmonization of regulations, what role do you see India playing in setting or adapting to international standards?

Dr. Ridhurkar: In last few years Indian pharma has evolved from being primarily a volume-driven generics supplier to becoming a trusted global partner in quality manufacturing, complex formulations, and cost-efficient innovation. As regulatory harmonization increases, Indian companies have the opportunity to demonstrate that high quality and high scale can coexist.

With current EU-India trade agreement and recent investments in the biopharmaceutical innovations. The future of global healthcare depends on both innovation and access. India stands at the intersection of these two priorities, and by continuing to elevate quality standards, the country can play a defining role in the next phase of global regulatory evolution.

Pharma Now: By 2030, the pharma workforce will look very different. What competencies and mindsets should young professionals start building now to stay relevant?

Dr. Ridhurkar: The pharmaceutical professional of 2030 will need to be both scientifically grounded and digitally fluent. Technical expertise will always remain essential whether in formulation science, regulatory affairs, quality, or manufacturing. However, the differentiator will be the ability to work at the intersection of science, technology, and data.

In my opinion the budding professional should cultivate adaptability, systems thinking and ethical responsibility to be successful in professional carrier.

Pharma Now: How do you personally mentor and coach talent, ensuring they are not just technically skilled but also industry-ready leaders?

Dr. Ridhurkar: Mentorship, to me, is about expanding perspective, not just improving performance.

When I work with emerging leaders, I encourage them to look beyond their functional roles and understand the end-to-end impact of their work from raw material sourcing to the patient using the final product. This helps them develop strategic thinking early in their careers.

Also focus on the knowledge sharing, hence usually I make sure to participate in the congress or conference globally as a keynote speaker and share my experience and give a deep insight to the audience related to innovations and new technologies.

Pharma Now: What role do diversity, inclusivity, and cross-functional collaboration play in shaping the pharma leaders of tomorrow?

Dr. Ridhurkar: The future of pharma leadership will be defined by diversity of thought as much as diversity of background.

Healthcare challenges are complex and global. Solutions cannot come from isolated teams or uniform perspectives. Diverse teams bring broader problem-solving approaches, better risk evaluation, and more innovative thinking, all of which are essential in drug development and manufacturing.

Cross-functional collaboration is equally critical. Tomorrow’s leaders must be comfortable working across R&D, regulatory, operations, digital, and commercial teams. Breakthroughs often happen at these intersections, not within isolated departments.

Pharma Now: India is often called the “pharmacy of the world.” From your perspective, how can the country move from being a cost-driven generics hub to an innovative-driven pharma powerhouse?

Dr. Ridhurkar: India’s strength in cost-efficient generics has given it global scale, credibility, and manufacturing expertise. The next step is to build innovation on top of that strong foundation, not move away from it.

To transition into an innovation-driven powerhouse, three shifts are essential.

1. Deeper investment in research ecosystems.
2. Focus on complex and specialty segments.
3. Policy and regulatory support for innovation.

India can create its own model that combines affordability, scale, and frugal innovation with strong science. That blend can make India a global leader in accessible innovation.

Pharma Now: What global trends, such as personalized medicine, sustainability in manufacturing, or biologics, do you think Indian pharma is most prepared (or unprepared) to embrace?

Dr. Ridhurkar: Indian pharma is at different levels of readiness across these major global trends.

Biologics and biosimilars are areas where India is increasingly well-positioned with a strong capability in complex manufacturing, process control, and global regulatory compliance.

Sustainability in manufacturing is another area where Indian pharma has both an opportunity and a responsibility with a very good energy efficiency, water stewardship, and green chemistry practices.

Personalized medicine, which is challenging as it requires integration of genomics, advanced diagnostics, data analytics, and highly flexible manufacturing models. India has strong IT and data science capabilities, which is an advantage.

So, India is well-prepared for complex manufacturing-led trends like biosimilars, progressing steadily in sustainability, and at an earlier stage in fully embracing personalized medicine.

Pharma Now: Looking ahead, how do you see the balance shifting between cost efficiency and innovation in shaping competitive advantage in pharma?

Dr. Ridhurkar: Healthcare systems worldwide are under cost pressure, so affordability will remain critical. At the same time, patients and regulators expect safer, more effective, and more advanced therapies. Companies that innovate without cost discipline risk limited access; companies that focus only on cost risk commoditization.

The winning model will be efficient innovation using digital tools, advanced manufacturing, and smarter R&D approaches to reduce development timelines and production costs while improving quality. Process innovation will be just as important as product innovation.

Ultimately, the future belongs to organizations that can make innovation scalable and affordability sustainable. That is where long-term leadership in global pharma will be defined.

Pharma Now: What is one philosophy, quote, or success mantra that has anchored you through challenges, and what message would you like to pass on to the next generation of pharma leaders?

Dr. Ridhurkar: Challenges are inevitable in the pharmaceutical industry. Regulations evolve, markets shift, and science constantly advances. What has helped me navigate these moments is staying purpose-focused rather than pressure-focused. When your purpose is clear, temporary obstacles become part of the journey, not the end of the road.

To the next generation of pharma leaders, my message is “never compromise on ethics for short-term gains, stay focused and always think how to make patients life better”.