Afew decades back, the Indian pharmaceutical industry was majorly male dominated and women rarely opted to pursue a career in this industry. However, things have had a drastic change in recent times. With eminent women leaders like Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (Founder & Chairperson of Biocon) and Samina Vaziralli (Executive Director of Cipla) making headlines worldwide, they are now true beacons of inspiration for women to take-up a career in the pharma industry. As a result, the last decade has seen a steep growth in women foraying into this industry and even holding management positions.

Anu Jagtap (Co-Founder & Director of Aastrid Life Sciences) is one such eminent women business leader in the Indian pharmaceutical industry who is driving her company to success through sheer determination, passion, in-depth industry expertise and industry-best practices. Women Entrepreneur team recently got the opportunity to interact with Anu about her journey so far as a business leader, her company Aastrid and many other aspects. Below are the excerpts of the exclusive interaction.

Enlighten us about your educational and professional journey so far.

Holding a Masters in Science degree, whatever knowledge of the business world I possess today has been through hands-on industry experience. Although I did not come from a business background nor had any previous experience as an entrepreneur, I treated it more as an opportunity to experiment with different ideas and simultaneously learn from my mistakes. Confidence, self-belief and willingness to work hard were the three important traits that kept me going forward. Being an entrepreneur gave me the opportunity to get to know how every process of a business functions and develop my interpersonal skills. I am very passionate about my work and ensure to give my 100 percent to whatever responsibilities I take-up. I have been in the pharmaceutical industry for more than 25 years now and am very well-versed with various aspects of the industry, which has helped me immensely in framing vision, mission and business strategies at Aastrid Life Sciences.

How is your experience over the years helping you in leading Aastrid towards success?

I leverage my international marketing and business development expertise to explore diverse business opportunities for Aastrid. I have been able to gain the customers’ trust and confidence by using my relationship management and effective communication skills. This has enabled us to satisfy our client’s requirements and maintain a healthy, long-lasting relationship with them. Also, maintaining a long term relationship with our employees, agents and our customers has been one of the key highlights and achievements of my career so far. I strive to build a culture of trust within our organization by imbibing qualities such as transparency, empathy, open communication and purpose-driven mindset among all the employees of Aastrid. As a result, we have been able to create a name for ourselves as one of the best companies in the industry within a very short period of time.

Tell us about Aastrid Life Sciences and its inception story.

Currently, I am the Co-Founder and Director of Aastrid Life Sciences & Aastrid International. Although international marketing and business development are my core areas of expertise, I have been working closely with various other departments such as purchase, R&D, marketing, HR, quality, CSR and I always set realistic goals and make sure that all departments function in close coordination towards achieving our targets.

Aastrid specializes in research and development of Intermediates for APIs and specialty chemicals for other related industries. Our parent company Aastrid International was incepted in 1997 and was initially involved in exporting active pharma ingredients. A decade later, we started Aastrid Life Sciences in 2010 with a vision to foray into the manufacturing realm with primary focus on niche import substitute products instead of commodity products. Realizing the immense potential in intermediates and pharmaceuticals import business, we set-up a state-of-the-art R&D centre to develop and manufacture these products indigenously.

Enlighten us about the functions and practices at Aastrid.

Innovation in process development is the core of our organization and our R&D team is always in search of more efficient ways to manufacture these products so that they can be released into market in the shortest timeframe possible. Being in the industry for such a long time has enabled us to analyze the current synthetic processes and suggest more efficient alternatives. However, what sets us apart from our competitors in the industry is our in-depth understanding of the synthetic chemistry, mastery over managing process development more effectively and our constant quest to innovate new routes of synthesis to fulfill every niche requirement. Our R&D center has got recognition from DSIR (Department of Scientific & Industrial Research) under the Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India.

We at Aastrid believe that linking sustainability and social responsibility initiatives to our core business defines the purpose of who we are and what we do. Also, these are among the key factors impacting a company’s business growth and brand image. Thus, we carry-out a lot of CSR activities for community development, wherein we are working towards improving healthcare infrastructure, supporting primary education and offering sustainable livelihood training and disaster relief & rehabilitation programs in the surrounding areas of our Mahape and Mahad units.

What are some of the major challenges that you faced along your journey as a business leader? Also, how do you ensure your work-life balance?

Since the Indian pharmaceutical companies were heavily dependent on China, the biggest challenge that we faced was the tough competition from the Chinese companies. Because of their highly competitive rates, the Indian pharma companies used to prefer them over domestic manufacturers. As a result, developing indigenous technologies to manufacture products at competitive prices and convincing the Indian buyers to choose our products was a huge challenge for us. Environmental conservation through sustainable manufacturing processes was yet another challenge. Our vision is to be a socially and environmentally responsible organization in every way possible, while simultaneously keeping our product cost low in both domestic and international markets. For this, we have a zero liquid discharge effluent treatment plant in place and we generate and use solar energy for our energy consumption needs.

"I am very passionate about my work and ensure to give my 100 percent to whatever responsibilities I take-up"

My passion towards the work I do helped me to be enthusiastic and work harder each day, and this is what kept me going. Balancing personal and professional lives is a tough nut to crack for any entrepreneur or a business leader, especially for women, as they have to tackle pressure from multiple angles such as profession, family, society and personal interests. Only a good support system can come to the rescue in this regard, and I am ever grateful to my husband and my family for all their support and encouragement throughout my career.

Tell us about the major milestones you have achieved in your journey so far. Also, what has been your success mantra as a business leader?

Setting-up our R&D center, manufacturing facilities and worldwide offices have been some of the most memorable moments for me. However, the biggest milestone to me was when we won the Make in India Enablement award for indigenously developing import substitute products by the Indian pharmaceutical industry. Having completed over 25 years in the industry, our success mantra has always been to keep our clients and our people happy. We at Aastrid strongly believe that success at the cost of our employees’ happiness is no success at all. Thus, we strive to imbibe decision making skills among all our employees so that they take ownership of their work and collaborate with each other to achieve the desired outcomes.

Having spent over two decades in the industry, what is your advice to young women aspiring to be future business leaders?

Only those who dream courageously, persevere consistently and do the remarkable work can become a true inspiration to others. So always believe in yourself & your dreams, and do not be afraid to walk alone. Stay strong when faced with challenges no matter how discouraging situations seem. Remember that only through passion and perseverance one can achieve the success he or she aspires for. Be very clear about your priorities and learn to manage your time as efficiently as possible.

Today I am proud to say that 25-30 percent of our employees are woman. These women come from different walks of life and working together as one team and towards one common goal. Each & every woman Aastridian inspires us with her indomitable spirit and never say die attitude. They work hard, totally committed to their work and result oriented. Incredible things happen when women support women.

Anu Jagtap, Co-Founder & Director, Aastrid Life Sciences

Having completed her Masters of Science degree from Pune University, Anu has been associated with Aastrid for over 25 years now, and has played a significant role in the company’s growth journey so far.

QUICK FACTS

Educational Qualification: M.Sc

A Business Leader You Admire: Indra Nooyi

Aastrid HQ & Office Locations: Mumbai, and offices in China and UAE

Awards & Recognition:

Make in India Enablement Award for Import Substitute Products