Harish Iyer

Harish Iyer leads a team that supports the advancement of new health technologies, including digital innovations powered by artificial intelligence (AI), to accelerate improvements in global health. He is based in the foundation’s India office.

Harish’s team has played a pivotal role in shaping the strategies of multiple foundation initiatives, spanning work on polio, COVID-19, and tuberculosis vaccines; diagnostic technologies; and therapeutics, including complex formulations and live biotherapeutics. His team also supports India’s National Digital Health Mission and AI governance. Harish manages key partnerships with Indian government research bodies and has contributed to national-level advisory committees such as the Department of Biotechnology’s Vaccine Expert Committee.

Before joining the Gates Foundation in 2015, Harish was CEO and managing director of Shantha Biotech (a Sanofi company), where he oversaw strategic operations, secured World Health Organization (WHO) prequalification for critical vaccines (Shanchol and Shan5), and led projects focusing on rotavirus vaccine, inactivated polio vaccine, and typhoid conjugate vaccine. He represented Shantha in engagements with institutions worldwide, including WHO, the Drugs Controller General of India, the Pan American Health Organization, and UNICEF.

From 2001 to 2011, Harish worked at Biocon in Bangalore, India, rising to vice president and head of R&D. He spearheaded development efforts in biosimilars and novel biologics, significantly driving down insulin costs in India and advancing an oral insulin to Phase II trials. He led a large scientific team spanning the discovery, clinical, and regulatory domains, and he built partnerships with international companies including Mylan. He also played a key role in regulatory strategy and interactions with agencies worldwide, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Evaluation Agency.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Harish worked in the U.S. biotech sector, first at Genentech in process sciences and then at IDEC Pharmaceuticals (now Biogen) as a group leader in purification development for monoclonal antibodies.

Harish has received executive leadership training in pharma and biotech from Harvard Business School and has published numerous articles on biopharmaceutical development, especially insulin formulation, biosimilars, and analytical sciences.