It was a company started against “angrezi dawa” or the “English medicine” in 1951, says Cadila Pharmaceuticals’ Executive Director J.P. Parswani, remembering the philosophy of founder-Chairman I.A. Modi who died on Monday.
The late Chairman, Indravadan Modi was 87. He will be cremated in Ahmedabad today.
Having worked and travelled with the Chairman for about 10 years, Parswani, says, “Modi was a nationalist at heart”. And he illustrates this with the instance of the “poly-cap” – the pill that combined hypertensive drugs, statins and aspirin – to reduce the risk in patients with heart problems. Since the drug combined medicines to lower hypertension and lipids, besides a blood-thinner – the official view was to keep the price of the drug expensive to recover the cost of research, says Parswani.
But Modi insisted that the price be pegged low, as young people were suffering from heart and lifestyle-related ailments and not all were from affluent families, Parswani recounts. Most people paid the entire cost from their pockets, Modi is said to have reasoned then.
Even in tuberculosis, where India has a high incidence, companies have not been putting money in research, since the margins are low. But Modi encouraged research to bring out Risorine, a combination drug with active ingredient Rifampicin, and a bio-enhancer. The drug not only reduced side-effects, but also increased compliance among patients, Parswani explains. But Modi insisted on keeping prices affordable.
In fact, Modi chose to have a manufacturing plant in Jammu, rather than Baddi that offered better tax benefits, so that young people could be employed and as a result stay away from violence and creating unrest in the region, Parswani says. “He was greatly influenced by the freedom movement,” he recalls of Modi.
Modi was born in the village of Hansot of Bharuch district in South Gujarat on February 18, 1926. In 1951, he started Cadila Pharma along with his school friend Ramanbhai Patel. The two friends and their wives used to make medicines in a room and sell them. “From the bicycle to a Rolls Royce, it is a remarkable story,” Parswani says.
In 1995, the second generation bifurcated the company to grow faster, and Cadila Healthcare or Zydus Cadila was formed. While this company is listed, the Rs 1,000 crore Cadila Pharma remains a closely-held company, growing organically. The late Modi’s son, Dr Rajiv Modi, the company’s Managing Director, is expected to spearhead the company’s growth from here on, Parswani said.