SHODHANA LABORATORIES LIMITED
Dr. Giridhar Thota, Chief Executive Officer of Shodhana Laboratories Limited, has smartly traversed the path from top employee (for Dr. Reddy’s) to a successful entrepreneur in the segment of pharmaceuticals. The protégé once working at Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories is notching novel highs in the world of R&D and new molecules...
A large chunk of his success was made because of his vision which he gained through his past experiences, and Dr. Giridhar Thota, CEO, Shodhana Laboratories Limited, will heartily agree on that one. The Postgraduate in Chemistry from Warangal in Telangana started his career with a small firm called Macro Molecular Products - dealing primarily with varnishes.
Thereafter, Dr. Thota progressed, bagging placements and expertise at other firms like Warner Hindustan. In 1982, Dr Thota was hand-picked for Standard Organics Limited. For two years, Dr. Thota functioned as the Group Leader (R&D) and Instruments Specialist.
Dr. Thota was one of the first key scientists to be hand-picked into the Dr. Reddy’s Group. Eventually he turned into Chief Technologist for the R & D department in 1985 and then to Vice-President in 1988 and further climbing the ladder to becoming, Senior Vice-President (Technical) in 1990. During his tenure, Dr. Thota played a key-role in strengthening Dr. Reddy’s Group foundation by contributing his expertise and knowledge in developing and delivering of new molecules. For Example Dr. Thota developed and delivered Ibuprofen, like that there are many more in his basket.
In order to fulfil his passion of entrepreneurship, in 2000, Dr. Thota started Shodhana Laboratories Limited for manufacturing bulk intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients.
Initial Hiccups
“I was worried about licenses and governmental policies. But my team of professionals in individual departments solved those problems. Earlier, banks refused me loans since some of them had bad experiences with pharmaceutical companies.”
Innovation Boost
“We are constantly building our reputation by satisfying our customers by providing them the right quality of products in agreed timelines . We are also developing new products and adding new molecules to our basket. We have good system practices and excellent facilities to suit the current regulatory requirements. We have been approved by TGA, Mexican Cofepris, KFDA, 5+ CEPs and more.”
CSR thrust
“Helping orphanages, AIDS victims, leprosy patients, education of teenage girls, schools in rural areas, schools for blind and water supply are some of the issues that we tackle, at present. We also contributed around Rs. 25 lakhs to ‘Mission Kakatiya’, for restoration of lakes in villages in Telangana state.”
Success Secret
“Unless you work with passion, you will not be able to learn and innovate on your own. You have to work towards excelling in your own capabilities. I'm proud to be recognised as an entrepreneur.”