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The Jury

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JURY
The Jury

This approach ensures the integrity of our awards. Winners are selected based on merit, not popularity, by a distinguished panel of 5 veteran leaders with expertise in pharma quality, from regulatory bodies and academia. This proven method ensures deserving recognition and has garnered commendation for its effectiveness.

To make sure no one can influence the jury’s decision, we are keeping the names private. The jury members are qualified personnels with pharma, academic, regulatory body background.

PAST JURY
Dr. Adil Billimoria

Dr. Adil Billimoria

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Dr. Antony Raj Gomas

Dr. Antony Raj Gomas

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Dr. Deo Narain Dikshit

Dr. Deo Narain Dikshit

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Dr. Rajiv Desai

Dr. Rajiv Desai

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Shirish Belapure

Shirish G. Belapure

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Vijay Kshirsagar

Vijay Kshirsagar

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Dr. Adil Billimoria

Dr. Adil Billimoria
Designated Partner
ViCompli Pharma Consulting

 Dr. Adil D. Billimoria is an Independent Consultant, Advisor, Subject Matter Expert, and Trainer in the pharmaceutical industry, with nearly four decades of distinguished experience across academia and global pharmaceutical organizations. He previously served as President – Quality, Compliance & Regulatory Affairs at Alkem Laboratories Limited, where he led global quality and compliance initiatives across manufacturing facilities in India and the United States.

Dr. Billimoria holds a B.Sc. in Chemistry from Wilson College, University of Mumbai, and a B.Sc. (Chemical Technology) from UDCT, University of Mumbai. He earned his Ph.D. in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from the University of Alabama, USA, specializing in heterocyclic chemistry for anti-cancer drug synthesis under the mentorship of Prof. Michael P. Cava, with funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). His research work has been published in reputed journals including the Journal of Organic Chemistry and Heterocycles. He further pursued postdoctoral research in Asymmetric Synthesis at the University of Kentucky, USA, supported by the Petroleum Research Fund.

Over his 39+ year career, he has held senior leadership roles at NOCIL, Wyeth, USV Limited, and Alkem Laboratories, leading R&D, Quality Assurance, Quality Control, and Regulatory Affairs functions. At USV, he spearheaded the company’s first ANDA filing and EU dossier submissions, and successfully guided multiple US FDA and EU inspections for both sterile and non-sterile products.

Throughout his career, Dr. Billimoria has overseen numerous global regulatory inspections for APIs, finished dosage forms, and CROs, all successfully closed without critical observations or regulatory actions. Today, he continues to contribute to the industry by advising organizations on quality systems, regulatory compliance, and sustainable pharmaceutical excellence.

Driven by the principles of embracing change and challenge, Dr. Billimoria believes in a simple yet powerful life philosophy: “Never ever give up.”

Dr. Antony Raj Gomas

Dr. Antony Raj Gomas, Ph.D.

A career spanning close to four decades in the field of pharmaceutical quality. Worked with reputed Indian and Global organizations such as Cipla, Dr.Reddy’s , Mylan etc. Retired from service as a Chief Quality Officer. Recipient of IDMA- PAC’s `Eminent Pharmaceutical Analyst’ award in the year 2006. Speaker in many domestic as well as international conferences.  Conducted training programs for some of the international Health Authorities too on various topics of Quality.  Was elected as an `Expert Committee Member’ of United States Pharmacopeia(USP) and also served in the apex scientific committee of USP as a `Council of Experts’. Served Indian Pharmacopeia also as an expert committee member. Serving USP as an expert committee member for the third term in the ongoing cycle. Holds a Ph.D degree in Chemistry. Successfully completed `Executive Leadership Program’ from Harvard Business School, Massachusetts, USA. Founder and principal consultant of a consulting firm that serves various pharmaceutical organizations to foster and strengthen Quality Culture and Compliance.

Dr. Deo Narain Dikshit

Dr. Deo Narain Dikshit
Director
AQEX PHARMA SOLUTIONS

Dr. Deo Narain Dikshit, Msc (Org Chemistry-Medicinal) PhD, is Quality Professional having 4 decades of Experience in Pharma Industry. He served as Director Quality Assurance (Head Quality for Asia) in Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd and later as VP Quality (Quality Head Asia 2) in Sun Pharma. He has excelled his responsibilities as Quality Head in Alkem Laboratories, Piramal Health care, Unichem, Ipca Laboratories, Natco Pharma and Bio Vaccines. He has expertise in Quality Management (QA & QC), Validations -Process Validation, Facility Validation, Cleaning Validations and Computer system Validations.

Dr. D.N.Dikshit has always been crusader of bringing transformation in Quality management System in Organizations he served – Natco Pharma, IPCA Laboratories, Unichem Laboratories Ranbaxy Laboratory Limited & Sun Pharma. He has been Head of Quality for Asia. While working with Consultants like Paraxel, Lachmen, Quintile, McKinsey, PRTM he drove the Quality System Remediations implemented sustainable Quality system in the organizations improving the value system in – cGMP Compliance, Conformances with standards, Quicker response to Quality Complaint, Transparent Investigation, Sustainable CAPA, improvement in Process Performances indices, Optimization of Cost of Quality, Lean Management of Laboratories to name here.

Dr. Dikshit implemented several digital Quality tools and platform to bring efficiency, Accuracy, Reliability, Transparency in Quality, such as –

Implemented SAP _Quality Module, Trackwise, DAS (Data acquisition directly from Manufacturing machines), eDMS (Electronic Data and document management system, Documentam(electronic Document management system, LMS (Leaning management system, LIMS, CDS (Chromatographic data system), NOvatech (Electronic stability management System) , AMS(Artwork management system )   bringing transform shopfloor quality operations using manual processes into digitalized workflows. The benefits include improved productivity in data collection, easy traceability of Quality data and proper alignment between “Quality planning and operations”.

Currently Dr. Dikshit is Director of AQEX PHARMA SOLUTIONS Pvt, Ltd, based at Chandigarh, as principal consultant for Quality and Compliance.

Dr. Rajiv Desai

Dr. Rajiv Desai
Senior Technical Advisor – Quality & Regulatory
Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA)

Dr. Rajiv Desai is a seasoned pharmaceutical leader with over 36 years of extensive experience across global quality, regulatory, and technical domains. Since July 2022, he has been serving as the Senior Technical Advisor – Quality & Regulatory with the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA), representing 23 of India’s leading research-driven pharmaceutical companies.

Prior to this, Dr. Desai held the position of Executive Vice President, Global Corporate Quality at Lupin Limited (June 2016 – June 2022), where he led end-to-end quality management across APIs, formulations—including aseptic, injectable, and biotech products—and development quality assurance.

Over the course of his distinguished career, he has held senior leadership roles in Corporate Quality Management at prominent pharmaceutical organizations such as Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Mylan, Alembic, Orchid Pharma, and Dishman Pharmaceuticals. His professional journey spans both India and Switzerland, with significant collaboration alongside global multinational pharmaceutical companies.

Dr. Desai’s expertise encompasses Quality Management, Basic Research, Process Development, Regulatory Affairs, Technology Transfer, and Automation programs. He brings deep regulatory insight, having been actively involved in numerous inspections by leading global agencies including the USFDA, MHRA, EDQM, WHO, PMDA, and TGA.

He currently serves as the Chair of the South Asia Regional Chapter for the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) for the 2025–2030 cycle and is a nominated member of the Board of Governors at NIPER (National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research).

In addition to his advisory roles, Dr. Desai is an independent consultant to pharmaceutical companies on regulatory compliance and operational excellence. He also contributes to academia as a visiting faculty at institutions such as NMIMS and The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, and actively participates in Boards of Studies for curriculum development and Ph.D. research guidance.

Dr. Rajiv Desai holds a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the Institute of Chemical Technology (formerly UDCT) and an MBA from NMIMS, reflecting a strong blend of scientific depth and business acumen.

 

Shirish G. Belapure

Shirish G. Belapure

Shirish G. Belapure, aged 69, holds a postgraduate degree in Pharmacy and a Diploma in Business Management from IIM Ahmedabad. With extensive experience in both domestic and international operations, he has held key roles in top pharmaceutical companies like Zydus Cadila, FDC, Cipla, Cyanamid, and Sun Pharma. He was the Managing Director of Zydus Hospira Oncology Pvt. Ltd. and led global manufacturing for Zydus Cadila until 2016.

Currently, he supports the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance as Senior Technical Advisor for its Quality Forum. Shirish has expertise in pharmaceutical quality, having successfully secured regulatory approvals from major authorities like the USFDA, MHRA, ANVISA, and PMDA.

He also serves on the governing board of Parenteral Drug Association (PDA-India) and is a member of professional bodies such as ISPE and IPA. Additionally, he is on the board of companies like Innova Captab Limited, Albert David Limited, Uniza Lifecare, and Natural Capsules Limited.

Vijay Kshirsagar

Vijay Kshirsagar
Director
TRAC Pharma Consulting

Vijay Kshirsagar is an accomplished Quality, Regulatory, and Analytical professional with over 38 years of extensive experience in reputed Indian and multinational pharmaceutical companies, followed by nearly 11 years as a consultant.
His last corporate role was with Unichem Laboratories, where he served as Executive Vice President, leading Corporate Quality Assurance (CQA), Regulatory Affairs, and Analytical Research. He continued to support Unichem as an Advisor on Quality and Regulatory matters until 2023.
Prior to Unichem, he held senior leadership positions at leading pharmaceutical organizations including Ranbaxy, Sun Pharma, Tata-Merind, IPCA Laboratories, German Remedies, Lupin, and Duphar Interfran, in roles such as Director–Quality and General Manager–Quality.
He has successfully represented his organization in intellectual property litigation (Para IV filings) in the US and UK courts. Notably, he led the conversion of a Cephalosporin facility into a general product facility, achieving MHRA approval—the first such approval in India.
Vijay has led numerous successful regulatory inspections by global agencies including the US FDA, MHRA, EDQM, ANVISA, WHO, PIC/S, PMDA, Health Canada, and TGA, covering both drug products (sterile and non-sterile) and APIs.
A recognized auditor and trainer, he has conducted sessions in India and internationally on a wide range of topics, including cGMP, GLP, QbD, PQS, QRM, validation, investigations, aseptic techniques, dissolution, stability, regulatory compliance, auditing, documentation, and productivity. He has been a speaker at several national and international forums such as SPDS, ISPE, CPhI, USP, IDMA, and HRDF.
He is the Founder President of the Society for Pharmaceutical Dissolution Science (SPDS), now a global platform, and has been honored with the SPDS Leadership Award. He also served on the Board of Directors of ISPE India for 12 years. He received the Outstanding Analyst Award (2011) from IDMA and a Certificate of Honor from USP India for leading the USP Regional Stakeholders Forum.
Vijay has published articles on topics such as OOS, QbD, and cGMP in reputed journals and textbooks. His guideline on CAPA has been published by IDMA. He holds an M.Sc. (Research) in Organo-Analytical Chemistry from the University of Mumbai and has a strong academic foundation in microbiology.
He is also an Advisor and Mentor to two reputed pharmacy colleges in Mumbai and regularly reviews draft monographs of the International Pharmacopoeia for WHO Geneva, providing expert comments.
In 2013, he founded Mumbai-based TRAC Pharma Consulting, offering specialized global services in cGMP training, regulatory support, auditing, and compliance. TRAC has been recognized among the Top 10 Pharma Consulting Companies by India Pharma Outlook (October 2024). The firm serves clients across India, China, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Turkey, the US, and Europe.
Through TRAC, Vijay has helped numerous companies achieve first-time international regulatory approvals, sustain compliance over the long term, and successfully execute remediation plans to restore approvals following warning letters or import bans.