[Exclusive] Expat executive at Yuyu Pharma unveils plan to develop pet treatments with French CRO

Laxmikant Gharat, 57, had a clear mission last Friday. By 10 a.m., he was in line at the Embassy of France, securing a visa extension for his return to France in three weeks.

On Jan. 13, he’s scheduled to meet with a French contract research organization (CRO)—the name of which remains undisclosed—with Robert Wonsang Yu, CEO of Yuyu Pharma, to finalize a partnership focused on treatments for osteoarthritis, dermatitis, and potentially cancer in pets.

By early afternoon, the paperwork was in order, and Gharat was back at Yuyu Pharma’s offices in Korea. There, in an interview with Korea Biomedical Review later that day, he shared his vision for the company.

“I don’t want Yuyu Pharma to just lead globally in pharmaceuticals,” Gharat said. “I want us to redefine pet healthcare.”

As head of regulatory and business support, Gharat is steering the company toward a new direction: companion animal therapeutics. Rather than adapting human drugs for animals—a strategy often ineffective due to biological differences—he envisions creating species-specific treatments tailored for pets.

“We’re not isolating animal health,” Gharat added. “What we develop here—the technology, the insights—will directly influence human health. We’re building a bridge between both.”

This vision has guided Gharat from his humble beginnings in Mumbai, India, to the labs of Yuyu Pharma. 

“I was the first in my village to go to college,” Gharat recalled. “The first in my family to even think about it. It was kind of a big deal.”

But it wasn’t just pride that motivated him; it was a strong desire to do something different. That spirit of innovation fueled his career, from his work at India-based Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, where he served as vice president of medicinal chemistry to his current leadership role at Yuyu Pharma, where he’s spearheading a groundbreaking initiative.

The core of Yuyu Pharma’s new focus, Gharat said, is addressing one of the biggest flaws in animal therapeutics: the repurposing of human drugs. Gharat explained that this approach often falls short due to the biological differences between species.

“We’re focused on understanding the genetic differences that make species respond differently,” Gharat said. “That’s where the breakthrough will happen.”

Humans and dogs share 84 percent of their DNA, but Gharat believes the remaining 16 percent could hold the key to innovative treatments for both.

“Human drugs often don’t translate well,” he explained. “Even if the same disease exists in both humans and animals, how it manifests can be very different. We need therapies built specifically for animals.”

Yuyu Pharma's plan includes developing its first species-specific drug within five years—an injectable therapy administered monthly for pets. But the company’s ambition extends beyond that.

Gharat is also pursuing partnerships with two U.S.-based startups—also unnamed—to develop technologies capable of diagnosing chronic diseases in animals at their earliest stages, with the long-term goal of applying these insights to human health.

Through these collaborations, the company is exploring diagnostic tools that can detect multiple changes in an animal’s body with a single scan.

“So far, in clinical trials, we've used animals to help humans,” Gharat said. “If they tolerate a drug, we proceed. If not, we move on. But now, it’s time to change that. The animals who have sacrificed for human health deserve more. This time, they will be the ones benefiting.”

Gharat explained that current diagnostic methods, such as glucose monitoring for diabetes, only capture part of the picture. “There are multiple changes happening in an animal’s body at different stages of life. To get a true diagnosis, you need to capture all of them at once,” he said.

Yuyu Pharma’s technology, Gharat said, could be the key. “If we can detect those changes in animals first—and it works there—then we can bring it into human health as well.”