By Ruma Dubey

You say, “Mukesh Ambani” and everyone, even those around the globe, will tell you that he is the richest Indian on earth and runs a conglomerate. And try saying, “Yusuf K Hamied “ and you are likely to be given a blank stare or raised eye brows or a blatant, “Who is he?”

Well, few who keep an ear to the ground and those in the pharma industry would know immediately, “he is the Chairman of Cipla.” But he is a leader such stature and height that it is sometimes pitiable that we do not recognize the grain from the chaff. It is not about having the ability to move the stock markets or being a great orator, it is about moving people and walking on, with not much of talk.

There are various definitions and quotes on ‘true leader’ but what really fits Mr.Hamied is that he is a leader people barely know exists but when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, people, will say, “ we did it ourselves” Now that is the mark of the best leader – quietly bringing about a change while never really gushing with credit.

Mr.Hamied is rarely seen or heard but he has done and is doing remarkable things for the Indian pharma sector. Everyone makes or strives to make profits but Mr.Hamied’s aim was to get drugs to the people at the most affordable cost. This, for someone who is essentially a capitalist, running a company listed on the bourses, was a complete humanitarian move. The market questioned his wisdom of selling drugs at such low costs but his sight was beyond profits. 

In 2001, he literally announced war on MNCs by announcing that Cipla would be selling its triple cocktail of antiretroviral drugs in developing countries for $350 per patient per year, as against about $12,000 sold by the MNCs. This naturally raised the cudgels because he was in a way, challenging the patents of expensive drugs. He refused to budge and his company, Cipla also took a beating on its earnings. But this strategy paid off and MNC companies across the world were forced to cut their prices. And Cipla had a bumper Q2FY13 performance; not to mention that millions benefit from the low costs drugs.

Now Mr.Hamied has set his eyes on cancer; he hopes to do to anti-cancer drugs what he did for AIDS. Earlier in May 2012, he slashed rates on three anti- cancer drugs and then again in November, halved, and in some cases cut prices over 60% on three more anti-cancer drugs. These drugs are used to treat cancer of lung, pancreas, breast, head and neck, gastro, bladder, colorectal and colon.   He could bring down the costs to this extent due to backward integration at Cipla, which started a new factory in Bangalore to make the raw-materials required for making anti-cancer drugs. Have you ever heard of any company passing on such huge benefits of cost saving to consumers?

Both AIDS as well as cancer are terminal diseases and surely scores of patients and their families would be blessing Mr.Hamied for his effort. What he has done has changed lives for many around the world and that is something which not too many leaders can do. Making money is easier when one compares it to bringing about such kind of humanitarian change.

The 76 year old man has still got the zest to do more. He wants the Government to initiate a compulsory licensing system and wants the right to copy any product by paying 4% royalty to the company which made the drug. This, Mr.Hamied says will make medicines, across the board, much more affordable for patients.  

It is unlikely that companies which spend so much money on discovering and patenting drugs will allow this to happen but with Mr.Hamied, one never knows!  One can say that he has taken advantage of the weak patent laws and the loopholes in the system but he has never broken the law or taken undue advantage. What he has done and is doing is legendary and one only hopes that he continues with the big fight with the MNCs and makes life easier for those bogged down with life threatening ailments.

Like Mr. Verghese Kurien the man who set up Amul, changing lives of over 15 million people and making India the largest milk producer in the world, Mr.Hamied is a another big leader of India today.

One writes good words only when either the person has passed on or when he/she has been given some recognition. But this article is about making people aware about a leader like Mr.Hamied, who should be celebrated every day, award or no award. We do not have too many such people amongst us and like Mr.Kurien of Amul, Mr.Hamied has also transformed lives and changed the entire sector and that is a rarity.