Last updated : April 28, 2026 7:15 am
With big pharma leaning on external pipelines, the company sees opportunity in de-risked, high-impact assets with clear clinical endpoints
In an exclusive interview with Rahul Koul, Editor, Indian Pharma Post, Venkat Nelabhotla, Co-Founder, President & CEO, Vyome Holdings, Inc. outlines his company’s disciplined R&D strategy centered on immune-inflammatory diseases, capital efficiency, and clinically validated assets.
Globally, biopharma R&D is moving toward platform-led innovation, immune-mediated diseases, and capital-efficient development. How is Vyome aligning its R&D priorities with these structural shifts?
At Vyome, we have taken a very deliberate view that alignment with global trends does not mean following them blindly; it means interpreting them with discipline. While platform-led innovation is gaining momentum, we believe the next phase of value creation in biotech will come from focused, biology-driven programs in immune-inflammatory conditions where the unmet need is clear and measurable, and this has business potential of more than $400 billion by 2035.
Our strategy is to focus on assets where clinical endpoints are meaningful, development pathways are capital-efficient, and outcomes can be demonstrated with clarity. We are not trying to build broad platforms at this stage; instead, we are focused on executing deeply on select programs, such as VT-1953, a topical gel, which has the potential of treating the symptoms of malignant fungating wounds a rare indication with a US total addressable market of more than $2 billion as per independent analyst reports, and VT1908 a program to address the unmet need of steroid sparing uveitis, because in today’s environment, precision and execution matter more than scale without direction.
As large pharma increasingly relies on external innovation to offset patent cliffs, where do you see the biggest white spaces for biotech companies like Vyome over the next 3–5 years?
The next three to five years will reward clarity over complexity. Large pharmaceutical companies are no longer looking for broad narratives; they are looking for assets that are de-risked, clinically validated, and positioned within well-understood biological frameworks. The most attractive white spaces are in immuno-inflammatory conditions, rare and underserved indications, and areas where improving quality of life is a primary endpoint. There is also growing interest in indications where development timelines can be more efficient and regulatory pathways more defined. For companies like Vyome, this creates an opportunity to build focused assets with a strong clinical signal early, which can either stand independently or integrate into larger portfolios through partnerships.
India is rapidly transitioning from a generics-led model to an innovation-led biotech. What structural changes are still needed in India’s ecosystem to accelerate novel product development?
India stands at a critical inflection point, but it must recognize that incremental evolution will not deliver global leadership; a more fundamental and coordinated shift is required. If India aspires to scale its innovation ecosystem to global levels, it must think in terms of sovereign ambition, not fragmented progress. This means building a mission-driven framework where policy, capital, infrastructure, and execution are aligned with long-term national objectives. Access to global risk capital is central to this transformation because innovation in biotech requires patient funding that can withstand scientific uncertainty and long development cycles. India must actively attract large pools of international capital while simultaneously deepening domestic capital markets to participate meaningfully at scale.
Equally important is the creation of a global talent ecosystem, where India not only retains its scientific base but also attracts leading researchers, clinicians, and regulatory experts from around the world.Innovation today is borderless, and India must compete for talent at that level. At the same time, regulatory systems must evolve toward speed, predictability, and global alignment, and stronger integration must be built between academia, clinical research, and industry. When we compare globally, India today represents only a small fraction of the innovation output seen in countries like China, which have scaled rapidly through coordinated policy, global capital deployment, and infrastructure. The opportunity for India is immense, but achieving it will require a decisive shift from cost efficiency to innovation leadership, driven by scale, capital, talent, and execution.
How do you assess India’s readiness to move from biosimilars and complex generics into first-in-class or best-in-class biologics innovation?
India has demonstrated strong capability in biosimilars and complex generics, which is an important foundation. However, moving into first-in-class or best-in-class biologics requires a different level of ecosystem maturity, including deeper clinical development experience, stronger early-stage discovery capabilities, and sustained long-term capital commitment. The readiness is emerging, and we are beginning to see early signals of this transition, but it will take time to build consistency and scale. The direction is positive, but the shift will be gradual and must be supported by serious structural changes across the ecosystem.
How can initiatives like BioPharma Shakti 2026 translate into faster regulatory approvals, stronger biologics R&D, and globally benchmarked innovation infrastructure?
Initiatives such as BioPharma Shakti have the potential to be transformative if they are anchored in execution rather than intent. Their real impact will come from enabling faster and more predictable regulatory pathways, building robust biologics and translational research infrastructure, and fostering meaningful public and private collaboration. For India to become globally competitive, these initiatives must align with international standards and operate with speed and accountability. If implemented effectively, they can serve as catalysts in moving India from a cost-driven ecosystem to an innovation-driven one with global relevance.
How do you see AI evolving from an efficiency tool into a core innovation engine for biotech, and where do you believe it will create the highest value within the drug discovery chain?
AI is already demonstrating value as an efficiency tool, but its real potential lies in its ability to enhance decision-making across the drug discovery and development process. The areas where we see the highest impact are target identification, clinical trial design, and patient stratification, where data-driven insights can significantly improve outcomes. However, biology remains complex and inherently uncertain, so AI should be viewed as an enabler rather than a replacement for scientific judgment. The greatest value will be created when AI is integrated with deep biological understanding and high-quality datasets, enabling more precise and informed decision-making across the value chain.
What is your long-term vision for making Vyome one of the most influential biotech platforms emerging from the US–India innovation corridor?
Our vision for Vyome is built on the belief that the US–India innovation corridor represents a powerful model for the future of biotech. We combine India’s strengths in talent, cost efficiency, and execution with the United States’ strengths in regulatory frameworks, clinical development, and capital markets. Our goal is not to build the largest platform, but to build one of the most credible and disciplined companies in our space.
We aim to advance differentiated clinical-stage assets, maintain capital discipline and a clean capital structure, and focus on programs where outcomes can create meaningful value for patients and stakeholders. With a well orchestrated execution, Vyome can demonstrate how focused innovation across geographies can translate into global impact and serve as a model for how emerging biotech companies can scale with clarity, discipline, and purpose.