Maneesh Paul is the co-inventor and Program Lead of the first invented-in-India anti-infective molecule Enmetazobactam at Orchid Pharma, Chennai (India) that has been approved by the US FDA, and UK-MHRA, European Medicines Agency, and Indian CDSCO for marketing authorization in 2024.

He is a clinical microbiologist who pursued basic and applied research discovering novel anti-infectives and characterizing several microbial genes and proteins. He has translated scientific accomplishments and leadership through patents and publications

As a postdoctoral fellow, he trained in infectious diseases, specifically in molecular mechanisms of the pathogenesis of neonatal microbial meningitis at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, USA, as well as the role of A. actinomycetemcomitans in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis at Umeå University, Sweden. He was the ORISE Fellow at the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), USFDA researching on reverse vaccinology of N. meningitidis, and as an industrial fellow in the anti-infectives new drug discovery program at Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, India.

Maneesh, in addition to leading the Enmetazobactam programme, also led the anti-infectives discovery research group, in India, co-inventing several pre-clinical candidates in anti-bacterial and anti-fungal space. He led post-graduate evidence-based medical research at St. Martha’s Hospital, India, and advises several pharma and medical device companies. He led trans-disciplinary research at Acharya Institutes, Bengaluru, enabling it to become a research-based academic and research excellence campus.

In 2022 Maneesh founded Microvioma, India, a research-based organization founded on verified science to participate in addressing the challenge of AMR & WHO’s One Health mission by providing microbiology-based solutions & Stewardship initiatives.

Maneesh is an AMR stewardship champion through AMRACE (AMR Action Collaborative Engagement). He served as a member of the AMR Committee of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (USA) for three years and is a member of its research committee. He conferred the qualification as FIDSA (Fellow of IDSA) in 2024.

Maneesh received his Master’s degree in medical microbiology from Kasturba Medical College-MAHE and obtained a PhD from Gulbarga University, supported by Jean-Claire Lee of Harvard Medical School, Boston USA.