India’s second-largest pharmaceutical company Cipla is witnessing a quiet succession plan. Kaamil Hamied, nephew of Cipla chairman Y.K. Hamied, is now being groomed to take up a key role at the top management.
Kaamil (27), an alumni of the Mumbai’s famous Cathedral school, is the son of Cipla’s joint MD Mustafa Khwaja Hamied, who is the brother of Y.K. Hamied.
After pursuing higher studies in Singapore and Europe, Kaamil Hamied joined Cipla a few months ago. Kaamil is now understood to have been given specific responsibilities as part of a succession plan. Y.K. Hamied, when contacted, declined to comment on Kaamil’s role in the company. M.K. Hamied, Kaamil’s father, did not answer to queries.
Kaamil’s entry into Cipla puts speculation at rest as to who would succeed Y.K. Hamied. Hamied (66), who transformed Cipla into a pharmaceutical major with a market capitalisation of Rs 13,250 crore, often challenged the might of multinationals, mainly through reverse engineering of drugs for diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS. Of late, there have been rumours that the Hamied family might dilute their stake in Cipla in favour of an MNC. This may not be relevant now with Kaamil getting a larger role. Y.K. Hamied holds 22.24 per cent stake while his brother M.K. Hamied has 18.7 per cent.
Kaamil’s entry at a time when Cipla has not had the best success in developing new drugs, which is widely regarded as the lifeline of Indian pharma companies in a product patent regime.
{{/usCountry}}Kaamil’s entry at a time when Cipla has not had the best success in developing new drugs, which is widely regarded as the lifeline of Indian pharma companies in a product patent regime.
{{/usCountry}}