“R&D outsourcing has become a ‘must have' than ‘good-to have' strategy”

Aragen Life Sciences (formerly GVK BIO), a leading contract research and development organisation headquartered in Hyderabad, is marking its transition to a new brand identity in its 20th year. Established in 2001, the company is poised for growth in the outsourced discovery, development, and manufacturing services sector across both large and small molecule platforms with new investments and collaborations. In conversation with BioSpectrum, Manni Kantipudi, Chief Executive Officer, Aragen Life Sciences, Hyderabad reveals more about the company’s recent rebranding and growth plans. Edited excerpts;

- Sanjiv Das

GVK Bio is now known as Aragen. How is the name change going to have an impact on the brand?

The re-branding exercise has given us an opportunity to re-discover ourselves as an organisation and build upon it. The company has grown from strength to strength over the last 20 years. While our values remain the same, it is now aligned to the new brand promise and purpose, something that is imbibed by each and every employee of the organisation. This rebranding initiative enabled us to streamline and bring in a clear focus to our vision for success. Aragen is a name known for its scientific expertise and customer-centric culture in the West. We are now investing in branding around the name – our initial feedback from both current and prospective customers has been very positive. They love our new identity and our renewed purpose and promise. The number of positive responses in the social media from all our internal and external stakeholders is a testimony to the liking of our new identity. This new brand identity is well poised to launch Aragen into this exciting future.

What are the plans in store following the recent investment by Goldman Sachs?