Biotechnology major Biocon‘s Chief Financial Officer Siddharth Mittal took over as its new CEO and Joint Managing Director on Tuesday.
“Mittal took over from Arun Chandavarkar, who retired on November 30 after 29 years of service to the evolution and success of the company,” said Bangalore-based Biocon in a statement.
Mittal has been a member of the leadership team since May 2013 and played an instrumental role in the restructuring of the company’s biosimilars business into Biocon Biologics to unlock value for its shareholders, it said.
He served as the company’s CFO since August 2014.
“Siddharth’s leadership, understanding of the business, financial insights and operational experience make him fit for the CEO role to lead the company through its next growth phase,” said Biocon Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw.
Mittal has over two decades of experience in management, strategic finance and accounting, mergers and acquisitions and taxation. He will be facing an uphill task to lead the biotech major as it undergoes tough times with revenues plunging.
“As an innovation-led bio-pharmaceuticals company, Biocon is at an inflection point to create value for shareholders by unlocking the potential of its business segments. Post the creation of Biocon Biologics as a subsidiary, I look forward to generating value for stakeholders by focusing on small molecules business and strengthen portfolio of APIs and generic formulations in global markets,” said Mittal in the statement.