46 TWENTYFOURSEVENBIOPHARMA Issue 1 / March 2025 ARAGEN Ashu Tandon, Chief Commercial Officer and Management Council member at Aragen, has over 25 years of experience working in the biopharma business. This shows itself in a variety of ways —for instance, before our interview proper began, we had an extended discussion on the history of biopharma in New Jersey and why it became a hotbed for industry start-ups— but our conversation at CPHI Milan centered around industry trends and how Aragen is strategically positioned to benefit from them. “India, today, is the frontrunner to become the global hub for life sciences R&D and manufacturing and is rapidly expanding its reputation into the biologics space. Aragen has announced an investment plan of $250 mn over the next five years in expanding our R&D and manufacturing capacity and capabilities.” Per Ashu Tandon, the United States’ turn towards adversarial relations with China is set to benefit companies like Aragen in India. The BIOSECURE Act, a piece of pending legislation that is set to discourage relations with Chinese companies in the biotechnology sector, was on the lips of just about every biopharma representative I talked to. Representatives from Europe and India were particularly enthusiastic about this move, as friendshoring efforts would proportionately benefit them. In our discussion, however, Tandon noted that BIOSECURE doesn’t exist in a vacuum. 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act, notably, acted as a disruptor in the industry because it attempted to lower prices by enabling the government to directly negotiate drug prices for Medicare patients, altering existing patent limits, and
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