Cipla

History

It was founded by Dr. Khwaja Abdul Hamied as 'The Chemical, Industrial & Pharmaceutical Laboratories' in 1935 in Mumbai. The name of the Company was changed to 'Cipla Limited' on 20 July 1984. In the year 1985, US FDA approved the company's bulk drug manufacturing facilities. Led by the founder’s son Yusuf Hamied, a Cambridge-educated chemist, the company became a global icon for its role in defying Western multinational pharmaceutical companies in order to provide generic AIDS and other drugs to treat poor people in the developing world. In 1994, Cipla launched Deferiprone, the world’s first oral iron chelator. In 2001, Cipla offered medicines (antiretrovirals) for HIV treatment at a fractional cost (less than $350 per year per patient).

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. At the time of the acquisition Cipla-Medpro had been a distribution partner for Cipla and was South Africa's third biggest pharmaceutical company. The company had been founded in 2002 and was known as Enaleni Pharmaceuticals Ltd. 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, and in 2008 it changed its name to Cipla-Medpro.

Products and services

Cipla sells active pharmaceutical ingredients to other manufacturers as well as pharmaceutical and personal care products, including Escitalopram (anti-depressant), Lamivudine and Fluticasone propionate. They are the world's largest manufacturer of antiretroviral drugs

Operations

Cipla has 34 manufacturing units in 8 locations across India and has presence in 100 countries. Exports accounted for 48% ₹49.48 billion (US$740 million) of its revenue for FY 2013-14. Cipla spent INR 517 cr. (5.4% of revenue) in FY 2013-14 on R&D activities. 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%)). During the FY 2013-14, the company incurred ₹12.85 billion (US$190 million) on employee benefit expenses.

Listings and shareholding

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

As on 30 September 2014, the promoter group, Dr. Y. K. Hamied and his family, held around 36.80% equity shares in Cipla. Around 148,000 individual shareholders held approx. 18.67% of its shares. LIC is the largest non-promoter shareholder with approx. 6.45% shareholding in the company by the end of September 2013.

Awards and recognitions

Emergency contraception

In August 2007, Cipla launched an emergency contraception pill sold over the counter, which was controversial with regard to its marketing, its being available without a prescription, and the amount of drug in the pill.

Generic drugs

In the late 1960s, Cipla began manufacturing a new, patented drug, propranolol, and when the drug's patent holder, ICI, protested to the Indian government, the CEO of Cipla successfully lobbied the government of Indira Gandhi to change India's patent laws to eliminate patents that directly covered drugs,and instead to allow only patents that covered methods to make drugs. This change made propranolol and other patented drugs, generic and led to criticism of both India's patent laws and Cipla. India reinstated patents on drugs in 2005.