The pharma industry’s ability to find innovative solutions to deliver quality products and still meet overall demands is a remarkable achievement, however, rising global demand is still a significant challenge for the industry in the long term. Medspero Group of Companies is a well-known service provider in the domain of the pharmaceutical industry. Led by Dr. Priya Papisetty, Medspero Pharma was founded in 2011 by four partners in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The firm has multifaceted and practical solutions in global regulatory support, business development, and sales & marketing, including product identification, logistics, warehouse management, and brand promotion in the MENA region and around the world.

Dr Priya Papisetty, CEO of Medspero Pharma, is the leader of the first-ever and officially accredited Fast Track Medical Device regulatory agency by NHRA, Bahrain. With offices in Bahrain inaugurated by the top officials of NHRA, her aim is to provide end-to-end solutions with customized strategies that cover every aspect of clients' needs. “With 190 countries covered worldwide and our expertise based in Dubai, we offer our clients 360 degrees of pharmaceutical services. This includes regulatory services such as factory registration and product registration, marketing services such as 'Route to market,' mapping of market potential for Pharma and Medical device organizations, and presenting product landscape through our strong connections in each region, particularly in the GCC, Africa, ASEAN, CIS, Europe, and MENA”, shares Dr. Priya Papisetty.

Women Entrepreneur magazine recently connected with Dr. Priya Papisetty for a one-on-one interaction, let’s hear from her.

Tell us about your early educational journey and prior industry experience. Share about your expertise in terms of Strategic Regulatory Operations in the Middle East.

My journey would be meaningless without the support of my loved ones. I'd like to thank my beloved father, Subba Rao, and my mother, Sarada, for always encouraging me and standing physically & psychologically behind me, including Suresh Reddy, my husband, and my younger brothers, Chaitanya and Sriram, who are an important part of my development. My journey began with the inspiration of my elder sister Sudha and her husband Sudhakar, who are leaders of leading organizations in the UAE and brought me to this land of opportunities. Having started with a humble beginning in a small village in the Vijayawada district. I hold a Master’s in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Greenwich University, London and I am certified in Food & Safety, Clinical Research, and Quality Assurance from London and trained in Pharmacovigilance aspects from France & Germany.

Throw some light on the different responsibilities you shoulder as the CEO& Managing Director of Medspero Pharma.

Today, roughly one woman out of ten professionals constitutes the workforce of the pharma industry, I wish to make a change and empower women in this industry. As a Managing Director of Medspero, my day-to-day role includes managing influential connections, keeping my knowledge updated along with the flow of changes in regulations of each region, and of course, monitoring our own field forces and sales on daily basis through my head of each department.

"With 190 countries covered worldwide and our expertise based in dubai, we offer our clients 360 degrees of pharmaceutical services"

Tell us about some of the key milestones you have achieved throughout your professional journey. What has been your success mantra?

It is nothing less than ironic that while traditionally, women are the leading healthcare providers at home, on the other hand, their representation in an industry that is the backbone of the country’s healthcare system is completely disproportionate, especially when it comes to top leadership roles across the globe. However, interestingly, it could very well be that pharma companies could actually gain by improving their workforce’s gender diversity. However, in a male dominant sector like ours, I strongly trust that in the end, competence always wins.

When starting this organization 13 years ago, we were nowhere in comparison with the then-existing giants. Though we started with just one employee in the office, which was me. I placed my foot on the ground to learn all the dimensions of the Pharmaceutical market insights of the GCC region and today, we are happy to see ourselves come so far in this journey. Starting from the UAE, today, Medspero proudly has deep routed connections in 190 countries across the world. Few of the most popular brands sold across UAE were registered by us. I am personally happy to see my registered brands leading to success. Medspero with its ambition, has predominantly equipped women staff across all functions in UAE and in the GCC as well. Our dedicated employees are the support pillars of Medspero. With this, Medspero aims to be a global co-marketer and marketing partner who can take any company’s product range to a minimum of 100 countries within a year’s time. This knowledge and connection acquaintance is my biggest achievement throughout my career path.

What is your take on women’s current representation in top leadership roles across Dubai? How can we bring more women into decision-making roles going forward?

A country like UAE which really respects women and children is a boon to be here in terms of safety aspects (A woman can walk even at 1 am at the night all alone without even a single fear in mind). Respectively, women's participation is strong in the public sector. In fact, women hold two-thirds of public sector jobs in the UAE, with 30 percent in leadership roles and 15 percent in technical and academic roles.

Dr Priya Papisetty, CEO, Medspero Pharma

Priya has 13+ years of experience in Strategic Regulatory & Business Operations in the Middle East. She established the firm ‘Medspero’ in UAE and has successfully launched many branded and generic pharmaceuticals & non-pharmaceutical products, devices, and others, into the region, thereby adding value to their business outcomes in these regions. She also established more branches in different regions like India, Myanmar, Bahrain, KSA, UK & Italy.

A business leader you admire:

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw of Biocon & Vanagamudi of Apex Labs, India who just started with one brand Zincovit and are appearing on top of the Nutraceuticals sector in India. In the Middle East as a successful women leader, I always admire Dr. Mariam Al Jalahma & EngNada Ghassan Alsayegh of NHRA, Bahrain for their contribution towards the Healthcare management system in Bahrain.