Society for Pharma Quality Leaders organises SPQL Annual Meet 2026 in Hyderabad

The Society for Pharma Quality Leaders (SPQL) successfully concluded its highly anticipated SPQL Annual Meet 2026 at Hotel Lemon Tree, HITEC City, Madhapur, Hyderabad. The landmark convention received an overwhelming response from the industry, drawing the active participation of more than 130 registered delegates and senior leadership figures. They brought together hundreds of pharma industry executives, technical experts, and technology partners under the organisation’s core ethos, “Holding Hands for Enhanced Compliance.”

The conference served as a vital platform to address emerging operational challenges, evolving regulatory expectations, and cross-functional best practices from both Indian and global perspectives. Against the backdrop of significant new initiatives introduced by the Government of India to elevate compliance infrastructure, speakers collectively emphasised that adopting advanced digital technologies and a stringent “First Time Right” approach remains instrumental to securing global product safety and product integrity.

Regulatory directives

The event commenced with welcome and opening remarks from Dr. L. Ramaswamy (Secretary General & Trustee, SPQL and Chairman, Sotax India), followed by a presidential address from Mr. K. Anand (President & Trustee, SPQL and CEO & MD, Qualiminds). Dr. Rajiv Desai, serving as the Scientific Chair and Trustee, formally introduced the scientific objectives of the day.

A primary highlight of the morning sessions was the keynote address delivered by Chief Guest Dr. Rajeev Singh Raghuvanshi, Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI). In an inspiring speech, Dr. Raghuvanshi encouraged the audience and participants to embrace an unwavering commitment to quality, guided by knowledge and ethics. Most importantly, his emphasis on serving the nation and contributing meaningfully to society, rather than being driven solely by a commercial mindset, was truly thought-provoking and deeply motivating. Highlighting the pivotal role of a scientific community, he also suggested that SPQL publish papers on pharmaceutical quality and compliance to actively build and share industry knowledge.

Following the regulatory address, Dr BM Rao (Vice President & Trustee, SPQL and CEO, QDot Associates) mapped out the technical agenda, transitionally leading into a masterclass on cross-contamination controls and cleaning validation methodologies by Mr. K.R. Jayaram, Senior VP and Cluster Head at Glenmark Pharmaceuticals.

Advanced technical and digital innovation forums

The convention featured three high-powered panel discussions and technical case studies focusing on automated operations and contemporary analytical pathways

• Advanced analytical technologies: Moderated by Dr BM Rao, this session featured leading R&D heads—including Dr Vijaya Bharathi (Merck Group), Dr. Priya Singh (FDC), Dr Kalyanaraman L. (Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories), Dr. Pankaj Partani (SCIEX) and Dr KMV Narayana Rao (Natco Pharma)—who detailed advancements in handling complex modalities like peptides, oligos, and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs)
• Artificial intelligence and process automation: Led by Scientific Chair Dr. Rajiv Desai, the panelists, Rishi Vyas (Sun Pharma), Dr. Kalyanaraman Lakshminarayanan (Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories), Dr. Girish Kapur (USP-India), Dr. Damodharan M (Sai Life Sciences), and Aniruddha Mehta (EY) evaluated active digital deployments. The discussions demonstrated how automated tools optimize data management, streamline QC labs, and cost-effectively reinforce compliance metrics.
• Global regulatory inspections: A conclusive late-afternoon panel moderated by Alok Mehrotra (CQO, Syngene International) brought together senior quality leaders Mr. AV Jayakumar (Ajanta Pharma), Dr. Rupesh Kelaskar (FDC Limited), Dr. Deonarain Dikshit (AQEX Pharma Solutions), Dr. KR Jayaram (Glenmark) and Dr. Sanjay Shetgar (NSF) to dissect recent audit trends and operational readiness strategy.

Technology demonstrations supported the scientific agenda, including an automated sample testing presentation by Jürgen Kempf of SOTAX AG, an analytical excellence briefing by Dr. Ch Lakshmi Narayana of Daicel Chiral Technologies, and an interactive segment titled “Thinking Beyond Laboratory Glassware” by Tushar Agarwal, Director of ASGI Glassware.

Commitment to patient safety

The convention concluded with a clear consensus: the long-term competitiveness of the Indian pharma landscape relies directly on deep cross-functional synergy among QA, QC, R&D, manufacturing, and regulatory teams. Through ongoing educational initiatives and collaborative industry frameworks, SPQL aims to firmly establish a standard where Indian-manufactured medicines consistently match the highest global benchmarks for quality, safety, and operational transparency.