India is known as a pharmaceutical hub. It produces a bulk of drugs and also exports to other countries. The Indian pharmaceutical industry is expected to grow in future as well. The country has several pharma giants. One such company is Zydus Lifesciences, which is headed by Pankaj Patel, a pharma magnate. But who is Pankaj Patel? In this article, we will tell about Patel who owns the Indian multinational pharmaceutical company that also manufactures the Covid-19 vaccine, ZyCoV-D.
Pankaj Patel is an Indian billionaire businessman and the chairman of Zydus Lifesciences, formerly known as Cadila Healthcare Ltd. His full name is Pankaj Ramanbhai Patel. He belongs to Gujarat. He holds a Bachelor of Pharmacy and Master of Pharmacy degrees from Gujarat University.
According to Forbes, Patel has a net worth of $ 5.2 billion (Rs 42,610 crore) as of April 25, 2023. He currently holds the 524th rank in the richest person in the world, according to the magazine. In 2022, he was at 49th rank in India's richest list. His company, Zydus Lifesciences Limited, which is based in Ahmedabad, has a current market cap of around Rs 52,400 crores.
His late father Ramanbhai Patel founded Cadila in 1952 with his business partner Indravadan Modi to make vitamins. After his graduation, Pankaj Patel joined the firm in 1976. He took charge in 1995 after a formal separation between the two founding families. Today, the company has operations in 55 countries worldwide, according to the Zydus website.
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Patel is married to Priti Patel. They have two children. Their son Dr Sharvil Patel is the managing director of Zydus. Their daughter Shivani is married to Pranav D Patel.
He is on the board of several institutions, including the chairman of IIM Udaipur and chairperson of the Board of Governors of IIM Ahmedabad and Invest India. He has published over 100 research papers in peer-reviewed journals. He is a co-inventor in more than 64 patents, the Zydus website stated.
