Drug-maker Cipla has seen some top management-level exits, raising questions if the company was undergoing a restructuring exercise, possibly induced by the difficult economy in the times of Covid.

The key exits included Nikhil Chopra, Chief Executive Officer of the company’s India business, who had been with Cipla for over two decades.

Cipla’s Global Chief Financial Officer Kedar Upadhye told BusinessLine that the exits were not triggered by the business environment and in fact, the momentum was good. There was no restructuring underway, he clarified, in that the operations continued to be streamlined along the existing lines of India and US businesses, generics and prescriptions business.

Other exits

Other exits in the company included Nikhil Lalwani who handled an India project in the US, he said. And reports also mention Kunal Khanna, head of the company’s emerging and chronic business.

Questions also abound on the timing of these exits, in the midst of the Covid-induced lockdown, when drug companies especially are required to keep their operations running as an essential service.

Upadhye pointed out that the churn was in fact a “positive sign” in that Cipla was a good “catchment area” for hiring talent, a position earlier held by Dr Reddy’s Laboratories. Interestingly, both Umang Vohra, Cipla’s Managing Director and Global Chief Executive Officer and Kedar were earlier with DRL.

Meanwhile, in a statement, Cipla said, “ They (the executives leaving the company) have served significant tenures in Cipla; we deeply value their contribution, respect their professional aspirations and wish them all the best.” The company added that its business momentum was on a strong footing, backed by a 23,000-strong workforce.

In 2016, Cipla had undertaken top-level changes when it appointed Samina Vaziralli as Executive Vice- Chairperson and Umang Vohra as MD and Global CEO. This was about three years after Cipla doyen YK Hamied had announced that he would retire as MD of the company.

The appointment of Samina, Hamied’s niece, to the top job put a lid for a while on rumours about the company and the absence of a succession plan, given the absence of members from the younger generation in the company.

In fact, over the last many years Cipla has seen many exits at the top, including that of its previous head Subhanu Saxena and then Chief Financial Officer. Vohra joined the company in October 2015 as the Global Chief Financial and Strategy Officer and was elevated to the top-job in 2016.