Pankaj Patel

Pankaj Ramanbhai Patel (born 16 March 1953) is an Indian billionaire businessman, and the chairman of Zydus Lifesciences, the fifth largest pharmaceutical company in India.

Pankaj Patel is a Gujarati.

He was the leader of the Rashtriya Vidhyarthi Parishad and active leader of the Navmiraman Movement.

Since he was 8 years old, he would go to the factory with his father and would watch employees working on tablets machines.

Patel holds Bachelor of Pharmacy and Master of Pharmacy degrees from L.M. College of Pharmacy, Gujarat University, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Science and Law from the University of Mumbai.

Patel, in 1976 after graduation, joined the firm Cadila Healthcare, which was founded by his father in 1952 to make vitamins.

In 1995, Cadila Laboratories and Cadila Healthcare split under Zydus Group.

Zydus word is taken from the Greek god, Zeus.

The letter D was added to Zeus, and it became Zydus.

He took charge in 1995 after a formal separation between the two founding families from Zydus Cadila to Zydus Lifesciences and Cadila Healthcare.

When he took over the Cadila Healthcare, he was faced with two challenges: His was a Rs 200-crore company whereas his overheads including management, research, company expenses, and staff worked out to Rs 400 crore.

It was difficult to make two ends meet.

They were the first Indian company to develop drug for high-cholesterol diabetics.

250 crore in 1995 to Rs.

1,000 crore in 2000, the Group posted revenues of over Rs.

6300 crore in FY2013.

It has its manufacturing and research facilities in five states across India and is globally present in markets such as the US, Europe (France & Spain), Latin America, South Africa and 25 other emerging markets.

They formed an alliance with German biotech firm Pieris Pharmaceuticals for developing and marketing a new class of protein therapeutics.

Zydus was the first to file to sell a generic version of Shire PLC's $1.1 billion ulcer drug, Lialda, in the U.S and the FDA had awarded it six months of exclusivity.

He is also the chairman of Zydus Hospitals, a large chain of hospitals in Gujarat.

During Covid-19 pandemic, Patel ramped up production to become one of the largest suppliers of hydroxychloroquine and also came out with a variant of in-demand drug Remdesivir.

It was also in the process to develop vaccine to fight covid called as Zycov-D.

Since 2011, he is also the Executive Chairman, Vice President and Trustee of the Gujarat Cancer Society and Chairman of the Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute, a Regional Cancer Centre and one of the largest cancer centres in India, reaching out to the needy and underprivileged cancer patients.

He also officiates on the board of several Not-for-Profit & charitable institutions.

He also officiates as the Chairman of the Deaf and Mute School, Ahmedabad.

He is also a Director and Chairman on the Board of Zydus Foundation which set up Zydus Hospital and Medical College, Dahod.

They received approval from regulators in 2013 to sell Lipaglyn, a drug that controls both blood sugar and cholesterol levels and the world's first drug to treat diabetic dyslipidemia.

They also make a tablet named Aten (Atenolol) which is used as a medication to control blood pressure.

The Sugar Free brand created by Zydus Wellness has proved to be ubiquitos sugar substitute and Everyuth face wash also propelled the company to newer heights.

Mr. Patel played an active role in fighting against swine flu by securing approval from the Drug Controller General of India to launch VaxiFlu-s, the first Indian H1N1 vaccine and one of only few such vaccines globally.

He had left behind all the vaccine-only manufacturers of the country in development and launch of this vaccine.

Their vaccine portfolio which is perhaps the largest in the Indian pharma industry that covers over twelve vaccines.

The company under his leadership grew to be the fifth largest drugmaker in India with operations in 70 countries worldwide.

In the animal healthcare segment, it ranks second in India.

From a turnover of Rs.

In 2016-2017, he became the president of FICCI.

It is India's oldest, largest, non-government, not-for-profit, and apex business organization.

He was a Board member for 8 years prior to becoming the Chairman of the Board of governors of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

He is also the Chairman of the board of governors of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata; Indian Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar and the Indian Institute of Management, Udaipur.

He is a Member of the governing board of The Ahmedabad University, Chairman of School of Life Sciences, Ahmedabad University and Member of the board of management of the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies.