“Biologics and biosimilars represent Veeda’s second-highest strategic priority after clinical trials”

India’s clinical research environment is at an inflection point, believes Binoy Gardi, Managing Director and Group CEO, Veeda Lifesciences, a visionary entrepreneur with decades of experience in the pharmaceutical and clinical research sectors. Binoy is the original architect of Veeda’s journey from a start-up in 2004 to one of the world’s leading independent Contract Research Organizations (CROs).

Binoy has recently returned to helm the company he founded to steer its next phase of strategic growth and global expansion. In an exclusive interview with Rahul Koul, Chief Editor, BioVoice News, Binoy Gardi spoke about his top priorities, latest initiatives, acquisitions and future plans. Read the excerpts:

Having founded Veeda Lifesciences in 2004, how do you see the company evolving in this new chapter? What leadership lessons from your earlier tenure are shaping your strategy now?

Over two decades, Veeda has evolved from a niche BA/BE player into an integrated, end-to-end CRO. Today, 50% of revenue is generated from clinical trials for large pharma and large molecules, 30% from Generic and Healthy Volunteer studies, and 20% from pre-clinical services. This new chapter, following my return as Group CEO and Managing Director in January 2026, is about combining the structural maturity of a scaled organisation with the agility of a founder-led enterprise.

Central to our 2026 strategy is the investment in Mango Sciences, a Boston-headquartered company through which access to 2 million oncology lives has been secured. Through Mango’s AI-powered Querent platform, large language models and generative AI are used to mine electronic health records, pathology reports and clinical notes, converting patient identification from a manual process into an automated, predictive one. Implicit bias is removed from recruitment, and eligible patients are identified purely on clinical criteria — enabling trials to be delivered faster, with fewer sites, than any other CRO in India.

The leadership principles that guide me remain constant: clients must always be put first, quality work must be delivered on time, and the ultimate purpose of this organisation — improving the lives of patients who depend on the medicines we help develop — must never be lost sight of.

You recently returned to lead Veeda in its next phase of growth. What are your top priorities as Managing Director and Group CEO?

A clear AI strategy has been developed by Veeda across two dimensions. Internally, application software tools incorporating AI and machine learning are being deployed to enable reports to be delivered faster and with higher quality. Our CTMS, EDC and LIMS systems are being upgraded so that unstructured clinical documents are converted into live dashboards and actionable analytics, equipping every function to operate with real-time insight. These are fully operational systems through which value is already being generated for clients.

Externally, our September 2025 investment in Mango Sciences has given Veeda exclusive access, through their AI-powered platform, to two million oncology patient lives — a capability held by no other CRO in India. Similar acquisitions and partnerships are being pursued in additional therapeutic areas and geographies to build a data backbone that positions Veeda as an innovation-driven partner. This strategy is being operationalised through the scaling of AI and real-world data platforms across therapeutic areas, the embedding of data science skills into clinical operations, and alignment with evolving CDSCO, USFDA and EMA expectations on digital tools and RWD/RWE.

Veeda has expanded through acquisitions such as Heads and investments like Mango. What outcomes have these initiatives delivered?

The acquisition of Heads has been transformational. Veeda’s Clinical Trials division has been elevated from a supporting vertical into the flagship business, and a global operational backbone across 25 locations in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific has been established. This “follow-the-sun” footprint is enabling global, multi-centre trials to be executed with speed and consistency. Among the most significant programmes currently underway is one of the world’s largest Phase 3 multiple myeloma studies, involving 1,500 patients across more than 25 countries and close to 200 sites.

The Mango Sciences investment complements this by transforming how trials are run in oncology and precision medicine. Eligible patients are identified with far greater precision than manual screening allows, delivering three outcomes: faster, more predictable recruitment; improved support for regulatory diversity expectations; and more data-driven feasibility assessments at the study design stage. Together, these initiatives have shifted Veeda’s value proposition from cost arbitrage to “intelligence and speed arbitrage” in global clinical development.

How do you assess the current clinical research environment in India? What impact will the Union Budget 2026 announcements have on the CRO ecosystem?

India’s clinical research environment is at an inflection point. The Union Budget 2026–27 “Biopharma Shakti” mission signals strong intent to support biologics and biosimilars innovation, while the strengthening of CDSCO and mechanisms such as “prior intimation” under the New Drugs and Clinical Trials Rules are streamlining the development pathway.

The creation of 1,000 accredited clinical trial sites is particularly significant. The historical constraint was not patient availability but the uneven distribution of GCP-compliant sites capable of supporting large Phase III programmes. This bottleneck is directly addressed by a government-backed accredited network. Equally important is growing regulatory convergence between CDSCO, USFDA and EMA — the gap with Western counterparts is being steadily narrowed through adoption of CTD formats and aligned expectations on data integrity. For Veeda, this “public infrastructure plus private intelligence” model creates a compelling force multiplier for global sponsors looking to India as a strategic development hub.

How is Veeda preparing for decentralised trials, precision medicine and digital health? How do data-driven insights translate into better outcomes?

Decentralised trials, precision medicine and digital health are treated as core strategic priorities, not peripheral experiments. Investments are being made in eClinical platforms, remote monitoring tools and digital patient-engagement solutions to support hybrid models aligned with evolving regulatory guidance on data integrity and patient safety.

In precision medicine, our AI-enabled platform analyses large volumes of real-world data — including EHRs, lab results and clinical notes — to identify specific patient sub-segments meeting complex inclusion and exclusion criteria. It has been demonstrated that AI-supported recruitment can reduce recruitment time by up to 40%, improve data-quality metrics by up to 50% and cut protocol amendments by around 25%. For sponsors, this means faster timelines, stronger regulatory compliance and better data quality. For patients, it means more convenient participation in studies tailored to their specific disease biology.

How important are biologics to Veeda’s long-term strategy? What capabilities have been built to support complex biologics programmes?

Biologics and biosimilars represent Veeda’s second-highest strategic priority after Clinical Trials, with more than 50% of current work involving large molecules. The wave of patent expiries for major biologics is opening a significant biosimilars opportunity globally, and our Biopharma division has been designed to capture it through advanced characterisation, immunogenicity and regulatory-science capabilities aligned with CDSCO, USFDA and EMA standards.

Over the last 18–24 months, a best-in-class biologics platform has been established, including a dedicated Host Cell Protein Services Centre in Bengaluru developed in collaboration with Cytiva. Analytical capabilities for monoclonal antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates have been expanded, embedding Veeda into clients’ development and release workflows. Biologics are regarded as a bridge into cell and gene therapies and precision oncology, where high-quality analytics and AI-driven interpretation of complex datasets will be indispensable.

What are Veeda’s most important strategic initiatives for the next 2–3 years, and what is the outlook on growth?

Veeda’s strategy for the next two to three years is anchored around its dual AI agenda and disciplined geographic expansion. Internally, AI-enabled platforms are being deepened so that every function operates with real-time analytics rather than retrospective reporting. Externally, our Mango Sciences partnership — which provides AI-powered access to two million oncology patient lives — is being extended through targeted acquisitions in additional therapeutic areas and geographies, including Europe, the United States and South-East Asian markets such as China, Korea, Vietnam and Singapore.

Four initiatives will shape Veeda through to 2028: deepening integration between Heads, Veeda and Bioneeds to deliver a seamless bench-to-bedside offering; scaling oncology and chronic disease trial capabilities through eClinical and remote monitoring platforms; expanding the biologics and NextGen biopharma portfolio in high-end analytics and regulatory science; and evolving our AI capabilities beyond recruitment into risk-based monitoring, protocol optimisation and genomic data integration.

The global AI in clinical trials market is projected to more than double by 2030. Our aspiration is that by 2028, Veeda will be recognised as the preferred development partner for complex, multi-region studies in oncology, rare diseases and biologics — a partner that combines speed, scientific depth and regulatory-grade quality for innovators across the US, Europe and Asia.