Process Engineering Specialist, Dr. Reddy’s Lab. Ltd. Work Profile: Product Research and Development Firm Profile: Pharmaceuticals
Unwavering Career Growth
I joined Dr. Reddy’s in 2013 through the campus placement process. Once confirmed, you have the title of Process Scientist (Process Engineering). I had various experiences changing my role every two years, taking on additional work or responsibility.
I worked with the Centre of Excellence (CoE) team on capability building in the first two years after graduation. We improved on the R&D process by including various Engineering studies at the lab scale, with a target that there should be Zero Failures during scale-up/commercial batches. Next, I took up delivery-oriented projects for drugs that DRL would be launching. I was responsible for the R&D of a single stage of a Drug. Later on, I was responsible for the development and scale-up of all the stages, and I had a team of chemists who took care of the chemistry aspect of the product.
I joined Jubilant Life Sciences for a year as a Project Manager of New Product Development projects. Thereafter, I joined back at Dr. Reddy’s as a Process Engineering Specialist. I am currently responsible for the engineering aspects of all Flow Technology Projects (these are products that we want to manufacture in a continuous stream instead of in batch).
Is there a ‘Plan B’?
There are quite a few in fact
You join in the manufacturing/operations role for about 2-4 years, and then you bring your commercial operations experience to R&D.
You do a Masters’s and can directly join as a Scientist. Your path would be fast-tracked by 1-2 years.
You do a PhD and join in as a Specialist if your set of skills matches with a problem statement of the company.
What Keeps Me Going?
I’ll start with my motivation- ‘to help make healthcare more accessible and affordable to people.’ This helps me drive through most of the challenges I face professionally.
My work involves a blend of experimentation and problem solving, a ratio of about 75:25. As a Process Engineer (or Chemical Engineer), any project comes as a problem to be solved. We review the process and design a way forward and run experiments to solve it. This philosophy is called Quality by Design, and for a chemical engineer, it is second nature when it comes to R&D. As an engineer, you think more in terms of rates and not data points.
We are not responsible for the design aspect of the problem statement, such as designing reactors, heat exchangers, pumps, dryers, etc. We are generally expected to fit things into an existing setup. We prepare a User Requirement Specification (URS) for any new equipment and outsource the design part to companies who specialize in the technology.
The highlight for me was when the patent for my process was granted. It is something that one aspires for as a science student.
Where Else?
Other Firms for Product Research and Development:
There are few Indian Generic Pharma companies like Cipla and Biocon for product research and development if you consider the API (bulk drug) side of the business. Pfizer and Novartis are looking for injectable and topical formulations if you have CFD/Modelling simulation experience in your projects.
Outside Pharma
HUL/HURC Bangalore and RB Gurgaon for their FMCG products. You can approach Godrej and ITC as well if they provide such roles.
GE Plastics (now SABIC) used to come. Dow is an option, however, I think it is a blacklisted company because it is associated with Union Carbide. You can checkout.
Aditya Birla Group has an RnD centre outside Mumbai.
Fuel cells have great space for growth.
I remember Panasonic taking a PhD in 2013 for battery technology.
With EVs coming up, you can approach them. However, most startups cannot afford fresh graduates, so an internship route could be possible, or Corporate - Institute partnerships.
Log 9 Materials doing some good stuff as well on Graphene Technology and Aluminum Fuel Cell
The solar panel industries can also be looked at. Again an internship route or Corporate - Institute partnerships.
Note: Many companies do take IITians, but with 1-2 years of work experience
Perks:
There is a lot of personal satisfaction for me when I can bring a generic drug into the market at 1/10th the price. Someone who wants to make a difference in the world and the problem is technological, then this is a no-brainer. I believe the future requires more subject matter experts and fewer managers.
The work you do here can be an add-on for you if you want to pursue a PhD. The leadership team consists of PhDs, Masters, and UG Engineers, and they bring good experience in practical problem-solving. Also, these leaders are in contact with professors worldwide, so they can help you narrow down your field of study. You can pursue a PhD like an MBA at any time in your career. Some companies have partnerships with some institutes to get access to Professors who are experts in their field of work.
You have a healthier work-life balance. *however, you should not be targeting a work-life balance in the first five years of your professional and personal life because you set many habits based on your learnings in this timeframe. So should you join a Research firm, always ask to help out your team members with tasks. Work Hard and Party Harder !!! **Also, this is not an excuse to not take care of your health. You are the healthiest at this point in your life. You have the time and energy to maintain it.
All of it is definitely not a bed of roses:
The first thing you compare is the salary. Indian Pharma giants offer GOOD salaries, but any MNC blows it out of the park because of the dollar conversion.
People opting for an MBA, sorry to say, there is no value added to your application beyond the 1st year if you give CAT. It would be a better pitcher if you can do some professional courses like Lvl 1 of CFA or Agile Project Management or trade in the stock market/cryptocurrency successfully in the little bit of free time you have.
The pace of work might be slow because of the nature of the research or the project you might be doing. This is not a con in my opinion, but I know many people complain about this and hence pursue other jobs. Work takes place in cycles and project priorities. You are generally tied down to a team or project, and if that’s a very long project, you as a fresh graduate do not experience the milestones that a peer might be experiencing in IT or Business roles.
Industrial and Product R&D: An Aspiration of the Youth?
In Pharma, the following are the hot topics currently world over
Continuous manufacturing (API and Formulation)
Complex molecules manufacturing (peptides, proteins, nucleotides, many more)
AI in Drug discovery
There is a lot of work going on in DRL, Cipla, and Biocon. Many EU innovators and Chinese companies have targeted Indian experts for such roles in the last two years.
I’ll keep it simple; If you want to contribute to society and are bent towards finding technological solutions to its problems, then Industrial Research or Product R&D is an excellent career option. Here, pay is good, and you have a healthy work-life balance.