Wockhardt is the fruition of vision & hardwork

If success is measured by figures and numbers, then Habil Khorakiwala has achieved that criteria. The Chairman of Wockhardt turned a pharmaceutical unit, which employed around 20 people and had an annual turnover of Rs 4 lakhs into India's fifth largest biotechnology and pharmaceutical company with 4,000 plus employees, and an annual turnover of over $300 million.

He was a lucky man. He did not have too much of a confusion choosing what career to opt for. After majoring in pharmacy from LM College in Ahmedabad, he left for the United States in 1962, to pursue masters in pharmaceutical science from the Purdue University. When he came back to India two years later with an American degree, his proud father Fakhruddin Khorakiwala, Chairman of Akbar Ali's chain of departmental stores and the former sheriff of Mumbai, immediately handed him the reigns of his small pharmacy unit in Mumbai - Worli Chemical Works - that made over-the-counter, OTC, medication.

But turning a unit which employed around 20 people and had an annual turnover of Rs 4 lakhs into 'Wockhardt' - India's fifth largest biotechnology and pharmaceutical company was a mammoth task.

Khorakiwala followed a straightforward approach. He moved out of his airconditioned office to meet doctors, customers and retailers rather than sell his medicines through medical representatives. Former Dean, Seth GS Medical College & KEM Hospital, Dr. GB Parulkar recalls, "He was very hardworking and visited the hospital to ask for our requirements and discuss methods to fulfill them. Wockhardt made two important drugs for us - Povidone Iodine, an antiseptic and Captopril, an anti-hypertension agent."

Under his stewardship, the company innovated constantly and sought newer opportunities that helped it move to the next level of growth. He was quick to realize the concern authorities and people would have for diabetes, all over the world, and focused intensely on it. Soon, the company launched India's first recombinant human insulin, making India the first Asian country to develop, manufacture and market the product, and the fourth largest producer of insulin in the world.

The company was one of the first to move into biotechnology, when it saw opportunity in it. It was also one of the first Indian companies to go global. In the wake of liberalisation in 1991, the company underwent fundamental changes in approach. It invested heavily in research and got into the biotechnology space only to reap the benefits later.

Today, Habil Khorakiwala chairs Wockhardt, the company that has a market capitalisation of $1.3 billion and an annual turnover of over $300 million. Half of its revenue comes from Europe and the United States and it has made four successful acquisitions - three of them outside India and one in India. 

The company recently acquired the UK based CP Pharmaceuticals that catapulted it into the number one Indian pharmaceuticals company in terms of revenue and one of the top ten generic pharmaceutical companies in the United Kingdom. Lately, it has entered into co-marketing alliances with Bayer Germany and Eisai of Japan to expand further.

If people assume that after achieving all this, Khorakiwala's resting on his laurels, then they are wrong. On the contrary, to this day, he puts in a lot of hours at work and all the midnight oil that he has burnt and his continued toil and effort, is sure paying off. He's all set to take Wockhardt from strength to strength.