Cipla

In 1935, Cipla was founded by Khwaja Abdul Hamied as the Chemical, Industrial & Pharmaceutical Laboratories in Mumbai.[7][8] In July 1984, the name of the company was changed to 'Cipla Limited'.[8]

Upon Hamied's death in 1972, his son Yusuf Hamied, a Cambridge-educated chemist, took over the company. In 1995, Cipla launched Deferiprone, the world's first oral iron chelator.[7] In 1999, Cipla joined the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance as a founding member in an effort to promote the development of generic drugs in India.[9][10] During the AIDS epidemic in the early 2000's, Hamied reverse-engineered a three-drug antiretroviral cocktail that was sold for about $12,000 per year to create a cheaper version that sold for $304 per year.[11] This drug was then sold to African charities and governments and "at one time, as much as 40 percent of the AIDS patients in poor countries took Cipla drugs".[11] During the avian flu pandemic in 2006, Cipla was able to reverse engineer the drug Tamiflu and sell it for significantly lower prices.[9] In 2013 Cipla acquired the South African company Cipla-Medpro, kept it as a subsidiary, and changed its name to Cipla Medpro South Africa Limited.[12][13] At the time of the acquisition, Cipla-Medpro had been a distribution partner for Cipla and was South Africa's third-biggest pharmaceutical company.[12] The company had been founded in 2002 and was known as Enaleni Pharmaceuticals Ltd.[14] In 2005, Enaleni bought all the shares of Cipla-Medpro, which had been a joint venture between Cipla and Medpro Pharmaceuticals, a South African generics company,[15] and in 2008 it changed its name to Cipla-Medpro.[16] In September 2023, it was announced Cipla South Africa had acquired the Midrand-headquartered healthcare products manufacturer, Actor Pharma.[17]

In September 2015, Cipla acquired InvaGen Pharmaceuticals and Exelan Pharmaceuticals, two American pharmaceutical companies, for 555 million dollars.[18]

In 2019 Cipla entered digital therapeutics by partnering with Wellthy Therapeutics in India and Brandmed in South Africa.[19]

Cipla sells active pharmaceutical ingredients to other manufacturers as well as pharmaceutical and personal care products,[20] including escitalopram oxalate (anti-depressant), lamivudine, and fluticasone propionate.[3] They are the world's largest manufacturer of antiretroviral drugs.[20][21]

In July 2020, the company announced the introduction of Gilead Sciences' Remdesivir under the brand name CIPREMI in India after reaching a voluntary licensing agreement with parent company and DCGI approval for "restricted emergency use" in COVID-19 treatment of critical confirmed patients.[22][23][24]

Cipla has 34 manufacturing units in 8 locations across India and a presence in over 80 countries.[25][26] Exports accounted for 48% ₹4,948 crore (equivalent to ₹84 billion or US$1.1 billion in 2023) of its revenue for FY 2013–14.[27] Cipla spent ₹517 crore (5.4% of their revenue) in FY 2013–14 on R&D activities.[27] The primary focus areas for R&D were development of new formulations, drug-delivery systems and APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients). Cipla also cooperates with other enterprises in areas such as consulting, commissioning, engineering, project appraisal, quality control, know-how transfer, support, and plant supply.

As on 31 March 2013, the company had 22,036 employees (out of which 2,455 were women (7.30%) and 23 were employees with disabilities (0.1%)).[3] During the FY 2013–14, the company incurred ₹1,285 crore (equivalent to ₹21 billion or US$260 million in 2023) on employee benefit expenses.[27]

The equity shares of Cipla are listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange,[28] where it is a constituent of the BSE SENSEX index,[29] and the National Stock Exchange of India,[30] where it is a constituent of the CNX Nifty.[31] Its Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) are listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.[27]

As of 31 December 2022, the promoter group, Y. K. Hamied and his family, hold around 33.61% equity shares in Cipla. Individual shareholders hold approximately 14.72% of its shares. SBI Mutual Fund, LIC etc. are the largest non-promoter shareholders in the Company.[32]

• In 2012, Cipla received the Thomson Reuters India Innovation Award.[34]
• Cipla won Dun & Bradstreet American Express Corporate Awards in 2006.[35]
• In 2007, Forbes included Cipla in the 200 'Best under a billion' list of best small Asian companies.[36]
• In 1980, Cipla won Chemexcil Award for Excellence for exports.[37]
• In 2015, Cipla stood third in the India's Most Reputed Brands (Pharmaceutical) list,[38] in a study conducted by BlueBytes,[39] a leading Media Analytics firm in association with TRA Research,[40] a brand insights organization (both a part of the Comniscient Group).

• Pharmaceutical industry in India
• Generic drug
• List of pharmaceutical companies

• Official website