Our leadership
Praveen Akkinepally Country President & Managing Director
Praveen is an accomplished leader with over 20 years’ experience in multiple countries across Oncology and Biopharmaceuticals. After building his career in the US, he returned to India two years ago to lead AstraZeneca’s Oncology Business Unit, driving strong growth through a patient-centric and collaborative culture. An MBA from the University of Michigan and an MPH from Johns Hopkins complement his global perspective and proven ability to deliver results. Praveen is poised to accelerate AstraZeneca India’s journey of innovation and transformative growth.
Amarpreet Kaur Ahuja Country HR Director
Amarpreet heads Human Resources Function for the Commercial organization, Global Innovation Technology Center, R&D group, and the Manufacturing site at AstraZeneca India.
Dr. Shashank Srinivasan Medical Director, Oncology Business Unit (OBU)
Dr. Shashank Srinivasan is a Medical Director for Oncology Business Unit (OBU) for AstraZeneca Pharma India Limited. He is a clinical oncologist by training. He joined AstraZeneca in 2024 and has been instrumental in advancing the trust in our science especially in lung and GI cancers, amongst key stakeholders.
Amay Ashok Pandey Director, Oncology Business Unit
Amay is a seasoned oncology commercial leader with nearly a decade of experience at AstraZeneca. In his previous role, he was leading the oncology business based in Jakarta, where he was responsible for leading commercial strategy and driving execution for the Oncology Business Unit. He brings deep expertise across oncology portfolios, underpinned by strong capabilities in strategic marketing, sales leadership, and shaping eco-system through cross-functional collaboration.
Nitin Bindal Director of Institutional Business, Public Channels and Respiratory & Immunology (Interim)
Nitin leads Public Channels at AstraZeneca. His deep therapeutic expertise and enterprise leadership will be instrumental in strengthening our Business & Public Channel potential.
Vinay Sharma Director, Rare Disease Business Unit
With a strong track record of creating unique strategies propelling reach and growth, Vinay is responsible for building a roadmap for Rare Disease Business Unit in India, converting opportunities into impact, in tandem with country’s policies and a strong patient advocacy ecosystem.
Mihir Parikh Director, Commercial Excellence, BD & Strategy
Mihir is a biopharmaceutical commercial leader with over 15 years of experience across oncology marketing, sales leadership, product launches, market access, and commercial strategy in India and international markets. He is responsible for the commercial strategy and growth of ENHERTU, including expansion of the public channel, launch of new indications, and pre-launch planning for Datverzo and Etcamah within the breast cancer portfolio.
Venkat Natarajan Director, Market Access (MA) India
Venkat Natarajan is a Director Market Access (MA) India. Steering our sustainable access agenda across federal and state ecosystems, leading critical pricing strategy – including confidential pricing models—and strengthening governance for our PSP and PAP programs; advancing private insurance partnerships and securing listings across states, prioritising expanded coverage and new funding pathways to ensure timely, sustainable patient access.
Praveen Kumar Mittal Director, Corporate Affairs
Praveen is a senior corporate affairs, government relations, and public policy leader with nearly 30 years of experience across healthcare, medical technology, trade promotion, and industry advocacy. In his last assignment, he served as the Executive Director of the Export Promotion Council for Medical Devices (EPCMD) under the aegis of Government of India, where he was responsible for driving policy advocacy, export facilitation, stakeholder engagement, international market development, and industry ecosystem growth for the Medical Devices sector.
C. N. Ramesh Varadarajan Director, Area Compliance, Asia
Ramesh joined AstraZeneca India in 1993 and has been with the company for three decades now. Being a global pharmaceutical company invested in patient benefit, we need strong yet uniform mechanisms to work with multiple group of stakeholders (internal and external) with similar values to the company while delivering life-saving medicines for patients round the world.
Amita Bhave Director, Regulatory Affairs
Amita, Director of Regulatory Affairs has over 28 years of invaluable experience in the Indian Pharma Industry across multiple domains such as Regulatory Affairs, Medical Support, and Drug Development.
Sandhya Amanna Director, Legal
Sandhya Amanna is the Legal Director for AstraZeneca Pharma India Limited. She oversees our corporate and commercial legal agenda, partnering with business leaders to enable strategic growth while safeguarding the organization through robust governance, business priorities, and counsel on statutory matters, as necessary.
Harish Dash Senior Director, Commercial IT & Digital
Harish Dash is the Senior Director, Commercial IT & Digital for India, leading enterprise-wide digital transformation through the strategic use of AI, digital technologies, and data. With over 26 years of experience, he is a seasoned technology leader whose career spans deep-tech startups, financial services, manufacturing, and the automotive sector. Prior to this role, Harish served as President & CIO at Finolex Industries, where he played a key role in advancing digitalization and building strategic technology partnerships.
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Sandeep A.V. Director, Site Management & Monitoring
Sandeep is a Director in the SM&M function accountable for delivery of AstraZeneca’s internally delivered studies, specifically the Breast & Lung Cancer trials.
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Tapankumar Shah Country Director, Site Management & Monitoring
Tapankumar is the Country Director of SM&M India and the Cluster Head of Asia Area overseeing SM&M teams in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines.