Ankur Bhatnagar

Global Head, R&D – CMC

Ankur Bhatnagar is the Global Head, R&D – CMC at Biocon Biologics since October 2024. He oversees all CMC functions, including Process Sciences, Analytics Sciences, Devices Development, Product Development Programs, and R&D infrastructure.

Ankur joined Biocon in 2001 as a fresh engineering graduate. From his early days of making perfect cotton plugs in the lab to leading teams that achieved significant product approvals, Ankur’s journey has been exemplary.

As Associate Scientific Manager, he led a team of scientists working on process development and scaleup of cell culture-based projects for the production of monoclonal antibodies. Since then, Ankur has paved the path for a remarkable career, crossing one milestone after another.

He started as a Scientist, and then became an Associate Scientific Manager. From then on, he steadily rose up the ranks to become Chief Scientific Officer, General Manager and then the Head of Process Sciences, before he was elevated to the role of Global Head, R&D.

He has been instrumental in the development of several key programs, including the production processes for biosimilars such as Trastuzumab, Pegfilgrastim, and Insulin Glargine. His leadership has been crucial in obtaining major product approvals, including the world’s first Trastuzumab biosimilar approved by the U.S. FDA.

In his most recent role as Head of Process Sciences, Ankur led the technical development of our entire biosimilars portfolio, initiated several organizational projects to build new capabilities, championed the use of data analytics in research, and managed knowledge and resources.

Ankur holds a BTech and MTech in Biochemical Engineering from IIT Delhi and has completed an Executive General Management program from IIM Bangalore.