AstraZeneca Pharma India Ltd. has announced the appointment of Dr Joher Raniwalla as vice president, medical and regulatory, AstraZeneca Pharma India Ltd., at Bangalore.

Dr Raniwalla joined Zeneca in 1996 and has extensive experience both as research physician and in general drug development, being medically responsible for the development of "Seroquel", a drug used in the treatment of schizophrenia. He then worked in Japan from 2001-2004, where he took part in developing the Japan Clinical organisation and led the Japan Respiratory and Inflammation Therapy Area.

In 2005, Dr Raniwalla, was appointed as Medical Science Director in Inflammation Therapy at the AZ Global R&D facility in the United Kingdom.

"Dr Raniwalla, international experience both as a research physician and in drug development will be a tremendous asset in his new role in Bangalore as VP, Medical and Regulatory. He will be based on our new R&D campus here," said Bhasker Iyer, managing director, AstraZeneca Pharma India Ltd.