Novo Nordisk Global Business Services (GBS) and the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) have expanded their long-standing collaboration to strengthen India’s capabilities in pharmacometrics, a specialised discipline that uses data, modelling and simulation to support drug development and clinical decision-making. Under the renewed partnership, Novo Nordisk GBS will provide financial support of INR 1.75 crore over five years to build specialised talent, research capacity and advanced infrastructure in quantitative drug development, at a time when medicines are becoming increasingly complex and data-driven.
A central component of the initiative is the establishment of an advanced pharmacometrics computing facility at MAHE, designed to support research, training and scientific collaboration in model-informed drug development and clinical pharmacology. The collaboration will also fund one full-time PhD scholar and one post-doctoral fellow annually, creating a focused pipeline of specialists in quantitative drug development and helping India build expertise in areas that are critical to modern clinical trial design and understanding treatment responses across diverse patient populations.
In addition, four to six specialised learning modules will be introduced under the theme “Innovation for Quantitative Drug Development,” covering topics such as Model-Informed Drug Development (MIDD), systems modelling approaches and translational frameworks for emerging therapeutic modalities, including cell and gene therapies and multi-specific therapies. By exposing students and researchers to real-world drug development challenges and contemporary quantitative methods, the collaboration aims to deepen India’s participation in a field that is increasingly central to global pharmaceutical innovation.
“India has become an increasingly important part of Novo Nordisk’s global value creation engine, and our GBS in Bengaluru continues to play an extensive role across our value chain,” said John Dawber, Vice President and Managing Director, Novo Nordisk Global Business Services. He noted that the collaboration with MAHE is intended to build the next layer of specialised capability in pharmacometrics and quantitative sciences, connecting India-based teams with global R&D and bringing together talent, strong academic partnerships and real business challenges to create meaningful impact for colleagues, the wider Novo Nordisk GBS ecosystem and patients worldwide.
Dr Sharath K. Rao, Vice Chancellor, MAHE, described the initiative as an important milestone in advancing research and training in one of the fastest-growing areas of pharmaceutical sciences. He emphasised that combining academic excellence with industry expertise will strengthen India’s capabilities in pharmacometrics, create opportunities for cutting-edge research and prepare the next generation of scientists to contribute to global drug development.
Highlighting the scientific focus of the collaboration, Henrik Agersø, Senior Director, Pharmacometrics, Novo Nordisk Global R&D, said the partnership reiterates a shared commitment to advancing quantitative sciences and evidence-based drug development. As obesity research evolves beyond weight loss alone, he pointed out that understanding changes in body composition across therapies is becoming crucial, and the initiative aims to develop a reproducible modelling framework based on published evidence to generate valuable insights while strengthening model-informed research capabilities.
From an academic perspective, Dr Srinivas Mutalik, Principal, MCOPS, and Dr Surulivel Rajan, Head, Department of Pharmacy Practice, MCOPS, noted that the collaboration will provide students and researchers with specialised training, advanced computational resources and meaningful exposure to contemporary drug development approaches. They said it will enhance MAHE’s research ecosystem and help prepare highly skilled professionals capable of addressing emerging challenges in quantitative drug development and pharmacometrics.
The initiative is being undertaken under NovoSPARC (Strategic Partnership with Academic and Research Centres), Novo Nordisk GBS’s academic collaboration framework that supports research, innovation and talent development through partnerships with leading institutions, further embedding India within the company’s global network of quantitative science and R&D capabilities.
