In this Expert’s Corner, Dr. Priya Kapoor G. Hingorani, Managing Director for India and Vice President APAC at Miltenyi Biotec, reveals how her leadership across India, Singapore, SEA and South Korea is accelerating cell and gene therapy in APAC. By building ecosystem readiness through THSTI-BIRAC training programs, biomedicine integration, and tech-driven scalability at an inflection point in India, Miltenyi bridges the access gap to deliver real-world patient impact.
1. To begin, could you briefly describe your current role and the core mission that drives your work at Miltenyi Biotec today?
As Managing Director for India and Vice President, APAC at Miltenyi Biotec, I lead the business across India, Singapore, SEA and South Korea, while contributing to the broader APAC strategy.
The core mission that drives my role is translating scientific innovation into real-world patient impact. In areas like cell and gene therapy, the science is advancing rapidly, but the real need is to ensure it reaches patients in a meaningful and timely way.
This involves working within the broader ecosystem to support adoption and integration into clinical practice, so that these innovations can become part of standard care.
2. Which specific challenge in the life sciences or healthcare ecosystem is Miltenyi Biotec most focused on solving, and why does it matter now?
If we step back and look at the industry today, the biggest challenge is not innovation, it is access. Science is advancing rapidly across areas like cell and gene therapy, precision medicine, and advanced diagnostics, and with a steady increase in approvals in recent years, the direction is clear. The gap lies in how consistently and effectively these innovations reach patients.
At Miltenyi Biotec, we view access through the lens of ecosystem readiness. This includes infrastructure, manufacturing capability, skilled talent, and clinical delivery systems needed to support the adoption of advanced therapies. Without these building blocks in place, even the most promising science cannot translate into meaningful patient outcomes.
This matters now because the science is ready. We are at a point where these therapies can make a real difference, and in markets like India, we are at an inflection point. What we build over the next few years will determine how effectively these innovations reach patients and become part of standard care.
3. Can you share one product, platform, or programme from Miltenyi Biotec that you believe has had the most meaningful impact on researchers, clinicians, or patients?
A key focus area for us has been capacity building in cell and gene therapy, particularly addressing gaps in skilled talent and manufacturing capability.
One of the early initiatives in this direction is a programme developed in collaboration with THSTI and BIRAC. It is designed to provide hands-on, end-to-end exposure to cell and gene therapy manufacturing within a real-world, GMP-aligned environment.
The focus is on building practical capability across the full pathway from development to clinical translation. This is critical to enabling therapies to move beyond the lab and become patient-ready.
For us, the importance of such efforts lies in strengthening the ecosystem. Without the right skills and manufacturing readiness, innovation cannot translate into patient impact.
4. What is one innovation or strategic decision that has significantly shaped the company’s direction over the last 2 to 3 years?
One of the most defining shifts for Miltenyi Biotec over the past few years has been our move into biomedicine, not as a new vertical, but as a natural progression toward getting closer to the patient.
As the field of advanced therapies evolves, it has become clear that science alone is not the constraint. These therapies are inherently complex, and the journey from lab to patient is often fragmented and difficult to navigate. Bridging this gap requires a more integrated approach that connects research, manufacturing, and clinical application.
Our focus has therefore been on enabling end-to-end translation, ensuring that innovation does not stop at the discovery stage but can be carried through to real-world clinical use. This shift reflects our broader commitment to addressing one of the core challenges in the industry, which is making advanced therapies more accessible and implementable in practice.
5. From a business perspective, what do you see as the biggest operational or scientific challenge in India’s healthcare and biotech landscape today, and how is the company addressing it?
The key challenge in India today is execution, making the system work together reliably and at scale.
While individual components such as research and early innovation are in place, advanced therapies require highly specialised infrastructure. For instance, the number of GMP-compliant cell and gene therapy manufacturing facilities in India remains limited, and building these requires significant investment, technical expertise, and regulatory alignment.
The real complexity lies in integrating manufacturing, quality systems, supply chains, and clinical delivery into a seamless and reliable pathway.
Our focus is on enabling this end-to-end operationalisation through close partnerships across the ecosystem. The role of these partnerships is not just to build individual capabilities, but to ensure that the system functions in a coordinated and consistent way.
This is what ultimately determines whether innovation can translate into patient impact at scale.
6. Collaboration is critical in healthcare and life sciences. Who do you see as your most important partners, and how do these partnerships create value?
In areas like cell and gene therapy, no single organisation can bring everything together. You need scientific research, manufacturing capability, clinical expertise, and regulatory alignment to work seamlessly to enable successful translation.
Our most important partners, therefore, span across academic and research institutions, government bodies, and clinical and industry stakeholders. Each plays a distinct role in strengthening different parts of the ecosystem.
The value of these partnerships lies in how they come together. Academic and research institutions drive scientific innovation, government bodies create enabling frameworks and support scale, while industry brings technology, global experience, and operational discipline. When these capabilities are aligned early, it reduces risk, improves speed, and increases the likelihood of translating innovation into patient-ready therapies.
For us, collaboration is not just about individual partnerships, but about ensuring that the ecosystem functions in a coordinated and integrated manner. That is what ultimately enables sustainable impact and better outcomes for patients.
7. Looking ahead to the next 3 to 5 years, what one trend in biotech, cell and gene therapy, or advanced healthcare do you think leaders cannot afford to ignore?
Looking ahead to the next 3 to 5 years, one trend that leaders cannot afford to ignore is the rise of technology-enabled healthcare delivery, particularly in simplifying complexity and enabling scalability in areas like cell and gene therapy.
These therapies are inherently complex, across development, manufacturing, and clinical use. Technology is playing a critical role in standardising processes, improving consistency, and enabling faster, more reliable execution across the value chain. This is essential to move from highly specialised, small-scale applications to broader patient access
At the same time, digital tools and data-driven systems are helping streamline workflows, strengthen quality and compliance, and improve coordination across stakeholders. Together, these are making it more feasible to deliver advanced therapies in a consistent and scalable manner.
Ultimately, the real impact of this shift lies in improving access. As processes become more efficient and predictable, it becomes easier to bring these therapies closer to patients. At the same time, leaders will need to ensure that technology is implemented responsibly, with a strong focus on patient safety, quality, and long-term outcomes.
8. What is one lesson or piece of advice you would offer to emerging healthcare and life sciences leaders who want to build sustainable, impact driven businesses?
One of the most important lessons I have learned is that sustainable, impact-driven businesses in healthcare are built on a clear sense of purpose and a strong patient-first mindset. In this industry, the decisions we make have a direct impact on human lives, and that responsibility should guide every scientific, strategic, and commercial choice.
For emerging leaders, it is important to focus on long-term value creation rather than short-term outcomes. Building in healthcare requires consistency, discipline, and a willingness to navigate complexity, especially in areas where the science, regulation, and delivery models are still evolving.
Equally important is recognising that no organisation succeeds in isolation. Strong teams and meaningful partnerships are central to building and scaling solutions that can deliver real impact. Bringing together the right expertise and aligning around a shared goal often makes the difference between progress and stagnation.
Leadership today is also more collaborative and inclusive than ever before. It is not about having all the answers, but about creating an environment where the right questions are asked and diverse perspectives are valued.
Ultimately, if you stay grounded in purpose, focus on building responsibly over the long term, and invest in people and partnerships, you can create businesses that are both successful and truly impactful.
