Ahmedabad: Tracking the biggest names in Indian pharmaceuticals over a century, IIM Ahmedabad associate professor Chinmay Tumbe mapped top firms from 1920 onward and found a rare constant from Gujarat. “The data revealed that Alembic Pharmaceuticals has been among the top 25 companies for over a century now. Very few companies hold that distinction,” he said.In fact, several Gujarat-based companies have constantly stood tall among India’s biggest drugmakers across eras from 1920 to 2024, a distinction acknowledged in the India Pharma Archives by IIM Ahmedabad (IIM-A) and Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) at IIM-A. The website of the archives was launched by Union MoS Anupriya Patel on Saturday to mark 125 years of the Indian pharmaceutical industry.Some of the top Gujarat-based pharma companies in terms of turnover over the decades, according to accompanying book ‘The Alchemy of Cure’ by IPA include multi-generation firms such as Alembic Pharmaceuticals, Zydus Lifesciences, Torrent Pharmaceuticals, Intas Pharmaceuticals, and Cadila Pharmaceuticals. The book also notes that Sarabhai Chemicals was the top Indian company in 1971.Prof Tumbe said Gujarat continues to be central to the industry’s rise. “Apart from the significant share in production and export, the region also gave rise to some of the notable entrepreneurs facilitating historic material for the archives,” he said.Designed for open access, the archive website compiles sector milestones, vintage advertisements, publicity videos, and key documents, building a record of how Indian pharma companies have been positioned and perceived over time. It includes images of early buildings linked to Torrent Pharma, along with oral history, including an account by Pankaj Patel, chairman emeritus of Zydus Lifesciences.Sharvil Patel, MD of Zydus Lifesciences and president of IPA, said that the archives celebrate the remarkable story of science, entrepreneurship and global impact of the Indian pharmaceutical industry.Sudarshan Jain, secretary general of IPA, said the archive and book highlight contributions from regional figures including Dr Vikram Sarabhai. “Ahmedabad is important as it was the site of LM College of Pharmacy, first independent pharma college, established way back in 1947. Apart from major pharmaceutical companies, the city and region is also home to institutions such as PERD and NIPER-A,” he said.BOXA century of Gujarati pharma companies: Rank of Gujarati firms in top 25 in terms of revenueAlembic1920: 7; 1971: 4; 1996: 6; 2004: 17; 2024: 21Torrent Pharma1996: 7; 2004: 15; 2014: 8; 2024: 7Intas Pharma2004: 21; 2014: 12; 2024: 6Zydus1996: 12; 2004: 5; 2014: 4; 2024: 9Cadila Pharma1996: 17; 2004: 22; 2014: 25
