Yusuf Khwaja Hamied is a leading Indian scientist who serves as Chairman and Managing Director of Cipla, a socially conscious generic pharmaceuticals company founded by his father Khwaja Abdul Hamied in 1935. In 1935, he set up The Chemical, Industrial & Pharmaceutical Laboratories, which came to be popularly known as Cipla. Born on 25th July 1936, Dr. Hamied obtained Ph.D in Organic Chemistry from Cambridge University. In the same year, he joined Cipla as a Research Officer. He was appointed as its Managing Director in 1976 and Chairman in the year 1989.
Dr. Yusuf K. Hamied is a gifted entrepreneur of the Indian pharmaceutical industry. Apart from being an accomplished scientist, he combines great business acumen and intellect to strike the right balance between business considerations and social and humanitarian goals.
To some—especially western drug companies—he is a ‘pirate’. To others, mostly those in developing countries, he is an unparalleled hero. Either way, Yusuf Hamied, is perhaps the most talked about man in pharmaceutical circles in the last decade. Yusuf Hamied earned the label of “drug pirate” and the ire of big pharma for his cheap knockoffs, notably of expensive AIDS drugs. Recently, Hamied, caused another stir by slashing prices upto 75 percent of three cancer medicines used to treat liver and kidney cancer.
Hamied, was pilloried by Western drug giants 11 years ago when he broke their monopoly by offering to supply life-saving triple therapy AIDS drug cocktails for under US$1 a day — one-thirtieth the price set by the multinationals. The firms branded him an intellectual property thief while he accused them of being “global serial killers” whose high prices were costing the lives of AIDS patients. Today, at least 50 per cent of AIDS patients in impoverished countries who consume medications, do so with Cipla's drugs.
Dr. Yusuf K. Hamied is a gifted entrepreneur of the Indian pharmaceutical industry. Apart from being an accomplished scientist, he combines great business acumen and intellect to strike the right balance between business considerations and social and humanitarian goals.
To some—especially western drug companies—he is a ‘pirate’. To others, mostly those in developing countries, he is an unparalleled hero. Either way, Yusuf Hamied, is perhaps the most talked about man in pharmaceutical circles in the last decade. Yusuf Hamied earned the label of “drug pirate” and the ire of big pharma for his cheap knockoffs, notably of expensive AIDS drugs. Recently, Hamied, caused another stir by slashing prices upto 75 percent of three cancer medicines used to treat liver and kidney cancer.
Hamied, was pilloried by Western drug giants 11 years ago when he broke their monopoly by offering to supply life-saving triple therapy AIDS drug cocktails for under US$1 a day — one-thirtieth the price set by the multinationals. The firms branded him an intellectual property thief while he accused them of being “global serial killers” whose high prices were costing the lives of AIDS patients. Today, at least 50 per cent of AIDS patients in impoverished countries who consume medications, do so with Cipla's drugs.
As beloved as he is in poorer regions, he is regarded as a scourge in the West by many. The reason for their ire is because western pharma companies spend hundreds and millions of dollars on drug research, they say, and people like Hamied rob them off their ability to recoup their investments in R&D.
“I’ve done more humanitarian work than Gates and Buffett put together,” Hamied said in an interview.
One of the finest entrepreneurs of the pharmaceutical industry in India, Hamied knows well how to create the right mix of business and humanitarian ideology. A self-confessed Gandhian, Hamied has always emphasized upon the significance of self-reliance and self-sufficiency in healthcare. It was for the same reason that he made efficacy and affordability of medicine his primary goal in life. A staunch advocate of national interests, Hamied has been instrumental in boosting the prospects of the indigenous pharmaceutical sector in India. Recognizing his contributions to the life science industry, BioSpectrum conferred on him the BioSpectrum Asia Pacific Bioscience Industry Life Time Achievement Award in 2011. Cambridge's Christ's College has unveiled a bronze bust of Cipla Chairman Dr Yusuf K. Hamied, making him the second Indian since eminent scientist Dr Jagadish Chandra Bose to have such an honour. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2005.
Affectionately called Yuku by his close friends, Hamied is fond of Western classical music and has been close friends with the world-famous conductor Zubin Mehta since boyhood.
“I’ve done more humanitarian work than Gates and Buffett put together,” Hamied said in an interview.
One of the finest entrepreneurs of the pharmaceutical industry in India, Hamied knows well how to create the right mix of business and humanitarian ideology. A self-confessed Gandhian, Hamied has always emphasized upon the significance of self-reliance and self-sufficiency in healthcare. It was for the same reason that he made efficacy and affordability of medicine his primary goal in life. A staunch advocate of national interests, Hamied has been instrumental in boosting the prospects of the indigenous pharmaceutical sector in India. Recognizing his contributions to the life science industry, BioSpectrum conferred on him the BioSpectrum Asia Pacific Bioscience Industry Life Time Achievement Award in 2011. Cambridge's Christ's College has unveiled a bronze bust of Cipla Chairman Dr Yusuf K. Hamied, making him the second Indian since eminent scientist Dr Jagadish Chandra Bose to have such an honour. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2005.
Affectionately called Yuku by his close friends, Hamied is fond of Western classical music and has been close friends with the world-famous conductor Zubin Mehta since boyhood.
References: Wikipedia; Business Insider; Business Standard; India-Inc
Photos Courtesy: Google Images
Photos Courtesy: Google Images