Gopala Krishna Dasika

Dr. Gopala Krishna Dasika is a global biopharmaceutical executive leader, currently based in India, and serves as Advisor – Life Sciences to the Government of Tamil Nadu. The state of Tamil Nadu is the 2nd largest economy in the country with Chennai (Madras) as its capital. In this broad role, Dr. Dasika is responsible for the strategic vision, stakeholder engagement & investor relations, policy advocacy & government liaison as well as talent development in the Life Sciences sector for the state.

Dr. Dasika was born in Andhra Pradesh, India and grew up in Calcutta (WB), Bareilly (UP), Bangalore (Karnataka) and Madison (WI). After graduating from Veterinary College, Bangalore with top honors, he completed his PhD at UW–Madison, with a major in Virology and a minor in Oncology. He worked on molecular signaling in Breast Cancer at the University of Texas Health at San Antonio, Texas, as a Susan G Komen Fellow in the department of Molecular Medicine followed by a stint as a faculty and Director of Gene Transfer Technologies at Cancer Therapy and Research Center, before moving to industry.

In an industry career spanning over two decades, he has worked in senior leadership roles in diverse companies (Pfizer, Hospira, Biocon Biologics, Reliance, Sandoz AG) and led large teams in four continents (Europe, USA, Asia, and Australia). While at Reliance Life Sciences, Dr. Dasika was also selected to serve as a faculty advisor for Biotechnology PhD students, University of Mumbai, and served on Board of Studies at Business Schools and Biotechnology Institutes in Mumbai and Pune. In India, he was also active in the National Biotechnology Steering Committee of CII, Grant Review committee at BIRAC and supported the start-up ecosystem.

Dr. Dasika has successfully built and led cross-functional teams that developed and delivered affordable biologics in diverse therapeutic areas to millions of patients globally. He holds a certificate in Executive Leadership from Cornell University and is passionate about Global One Health and equitable healthcare solutions to all.