Ajay Harinath Singh Greatest Brand Leader 2018-2019

Dr. Habil Khorakiwala
Initiating & Innovating
New Avenues
Empathetic, judicious and a firm believer in taking risks and running long distance to achieve
exceptional success, Dr. Habil Khorakiwala, Founder & Chairman of Wockhardt Group, has marched
through challenges of the times to build the only pharmaceutical company in the world to have five
experimental antibiotic drugs that have been granted the QIDP status by the USFDA
Dr. Habil Khorakiwala is a visionary
who saw much ahead of his times
what others couldn’t even visualize,
and invested in research in antibiotics
strongly convinced that it would not only
bring huge commercial success, but more
importantly would also lead to everlasting
good of humankind.
Thus, he set out at a very early age
to establish Wockhardt as a global
pharmaceutical and biotechnology
organization, providing affordable, highquality
medicines for a healthier world.
As no pharmaceutical and biotechnology
organization would go the distance and
stay the course without robust research
and development, Dr. Khorakiwala
industriously built it brick-by-brick to
mould it as India’s leading researchbased
global healthcare enterprise with
relevance in the fields of Pharmaceuticals,
Biotechnology and a chain of advanced
Super Speciality Hospitals.
He shares, “The secret to success in
research is no different from the secret
of success in business. One sees what
everyone sees. But, one must imagine
what no one else does. It is all in the mind.
We have made a commitment to humanity
that with our drug discovery programme,
we will save millions of lives worldwide.”
Ambitious Dreams of a Young
Mind
Drawing from the entrepreneurial spirit of
his grandfather and father – who migrated
from Palanpur in Gujarat, India to establish
businesses in Mumbai as they wanted to
make a mark in Mumbai convinced that in
the future Mumbai would make its mark
in the world – Dr. Khorakiwala joined his
father’s company in 1966, Worli Chemical
Works, and helped him turn it around when
it was on the verge of closure.
Earlier, deciding to seek a Bachelor’s
degree in Pharmacy at the age of 17 in 1959,
which obviously made his father happy as
he had just bought Worli Chemical Works,
Dr. Khorakiwala enrolled himself in the
L.M. College of Pharmacy in Ahmedabad,
and later took admission in the Master
of Science course in Pharmacy at Purdue
University in the US.
He reminisces, “I was all of twenty-four
when I completed my Master’s programme
at Purdue and returned home. As soon
as I got back, I immersed myself in work,
joining my father’s company. It provided a
good training ground.”
On to Bigger Things
Years passed, and several important
changes took place in Dr. Khorakiwala’s
“We are on the threshold of a new
phase of development for the Indian
pharmaceutical industry. For the Indian
pharmaceutical & biotechnological
industry, the best is yet to come”
professional life. In 1972, he suggested
to move their manufacturing facilities
to Aurangabad, as the Government had
decided to promote it as a destination for
new businesses.
In 1973, Worli Chemical Works was
registered as Wockhardt Private Limited
and by 1976 the business was finally
shifted to Aurangabad, giving way to
the beginning of a new phase for Dr.
Khorakiwala. The Government of the time
had enacted the India Patents Act, 1970,
which came into effect in April 1972. While
the pharmaceutical industry considered the
provisions of the Patents Act a mixed bag,
Dr. Khorakiwala felt that the new law also
gave a boost to domestic manufacturing of
drugs and pharmaceuticals.
He shares, “It was clear to me that
we had to adopt a more aggressive
approach to growing our business given
the opportunity being provided. I knew the
current structure of production and sales
would not last for too long. We were at the
cusp of change and Wockhardt had to ride
the new wave.”
Eager to innovate and expand, he decided
to manufacture nutritional and healthcare
products, which was also a first in the
industry. Dr. Khorakiwala reminisces, “No
pharma company had till then entered
this segment of the food industry. There
were companies in the nutrition business
and there were companies in the pharma
business. I viewed both as being part of
a common healthcare products industry.
We launched a baby food brand, Dexolac,
and then we bought a popular brand,
Farex, from Glaxo. Marketing baby foods
also gave us experience in the marketing
of branded products. But I would always
insist that we adhere to a strictly ethical
route in the marketing of baby foods.”
Consistent Growth
The 1980s proved to be a decade of
growth for Dr. Khorakiwala, as in 1979
his manufacturing facility at Chikalthana
in Aurangabad became operational and
he also registered Wockhardt Synchem
Private Limited, manufacturing bulk drugs
at Ankleshwar in Gujarat. In 1983, he
established Wockhardt Hitech Laboratories
Private Limited, manufacturing nutritive
foods at Kalol in Gujarat. In 1989, he
diversified into medical services business
and opened a day care OPD centre in
Kolkata, and then next year followed it
52 | india’s greatest leaders 2019-20 |