Dr. Arun Balakumaran serves as Chief Medical and Strategy Officer at Aurigene Oncology Limited, where he leads corporate and medical strategy across the discovery-through-clinical oncology portfolio.

A physician-scientist with over 15 years of pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry leadership, Dr. Balakumaran has guided oncology programs from first-in-human trials through global regulatory approvals. His experience spans major pharmaceutical organizations, including Pfizer, Merck, and Amgen, alongside high-growth biotechs such as Allogene Therapeutics and Replay. Prior to Aurigene, he served as Therapeutic Area Head for Hematology at Pfizer Oncology and Chief Medical Officer at Allogene and Replay. At Merck, he established the hematology business unit and led Keytruda’s first hematologic approvals.

Dr. Balakumaran completed his fellowship at the National Institutes of Health and residency at UTMB. American board-certified in Hematology and Medical Oncology, he has authored over 40 peer-reviewed publications in journals including Blood, Nature Medicine and Journal of Clinical Oncology.