Accomplished Pharma R&D leader, Sauri Gudlavalleti joins Sai Life Sciences as Chief Operating Officer

Sai Life Sciences, a leading global Contract Research, Development & Manufacturing Organization (CRO-CDMO), today announced the appointment of Sauri Gudlavalleti as its Chief Operating Officer. Sauri will report to the CEO & Managing Director, Krishna Kanumuri and drive the company’s growth as a new generation, science-driven organization.

Making the announcement, Krishna Kanumuri said, “I am really excited to welcome Sauri on board Sai Life Sciences! He brings with him a strong data-driven, systems approach combined with an innovation mindset and customer focus. I am confident that this approach will help us build Sai Life Sciences for greater scale, with high-quality science, speed and operating efficiency as the key pivots of our growth.”

Sauri joins Sai Life Sciences from Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories where he was heading Global R&D and Portfolio Management for small molecule API & Formulations, encompassing portfolio & strategy, development, technology transfer, CRO/ CDMO partnerships, IP, regulatory affairs and clinical affairs. Over his 7-year tenure there, he spearheaded a multifold increase in the R&D pipeline, significantly globalized the R&D efforts with an impetus on fast-growing emerging markets and brought about a pioneering transformation in R&D through data and analytics. More recently, Sauri led the development, approval and launch of the company’s covid portfolio, partnering with global large pharma innovators, in record time.

Before Dr. Reddy’s, Sauri was at McKinsey & Co. for six years where he successfully delivered on several client engagements with focus on operational transformation spanning product development, service delivery and manufacturing operations. Previously, he spent 9 years in the US, working on advanced technologies at MIT, GE and Qualcomm. He holds 9 US patents and has published in multiple peer-reviewed journals and conferences. Sauri is a B.Tech from IIT Madras, an MS from MIT and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad.

Responding to his appointment, Sauri Gudlavalleti, COO said, “I am delighted to join Sai Life Sciences at such an exciting time in its journey. In all my interactions with the various leaders of the company, I have sensed much excitement and a strong commitment to building a high-quality scientific company that brings science to life for its customers. This resonates with my own personal vision of transforming Pharma R&D with innovative technologies, data and analytics.”

Over the past couple of years, the company has undergone an intense phase of transformation as part of its Sai Nxt initiative. During this period, it has expanded into new geographies, executed investments of over US$100M in its capacity and operations, grew its workforce across locations, consolidated discovery operations from Pune to Hyderabad, and more. As a result of these efforts, the progress in its trajectory across both its Discovery and CMC businesses shows a tremendous uptick in the recent months.