From Ranbaxy to Daiichi Sankyo: The start-to-scrap story

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26 Aug, 2025 12:21

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Jhini Sinha PhiraMoneycontrol Bureau

As the spar between present and former owners of Ranbaxy gets nastier by the day, Moneycontrol traces the journey of the troubled drugmaker from its inception till date.

• Ranbaxy Laboratories was started by two Indians Ranjit Singh and Gurbax Singh as a pharma distribution firm. The company's name was culled from the merging of their names.
• Before starting Ranbaxy, Gurbax Singh was employed with Japanese pharmaceutical company A. Shiniogi.
• In 1950, original promoters had to part with the company by offering it to a local moneylender Bhai Mohan Singh due to huge debts.
• In 1973, Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd went public.
• In 1967 Bhai Mohan Singh’s eldest son Dr. Parvinder Singh took charge and eventually became the managing director in 1982.
• Ranbaxy leveraged on a 1970-legistaltion change that allowed domestic manufacturers to produce low-cost, generic versions of patented drugs.
• In 1969, Ranbaxy introduced Calmpose, its first successful generic launch.
• Ranbaxy's active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) plant in Punjab received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in 1980-81
• In 1989, Bhai Mohan Singh split his assets between his three sons. Two of his sons Manjit Singh and Anajit Singh were handed over Montari Industries and Max India respectively.
• In February 1993, Parvinder Singh took over as chairman and managing director, while Bhai Mohan Singh was made Chairman Emeritus. The patriarch dragged his son to court on charges of reneging on commitments.
• In 1999, Parvinder Singh passed away
• In 2001, Vidyut Investments, a subsidiary of the company was accused of funding stock market operator Ketan Parekh to ramp up Ranbaxy shares. 
• In 2006, the patriarch finally regained control of the company. Malvinder Mohan Singh became MD and CEO before his grandfather Bhai Mohan Singh’s death. His younger brother Shivinder Mohan Singh was inducted into the company's board.
• 2000 onwards the company was mired in several patent litigations that drained it financially.
• In 2008, the promoters sold 63.9 percent stake to Japan's No. 3 drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo for $4.2 billion.
• Malvinder Singh agreed to remain as CEO of Ranbaxy for five years following Daiichi Sankyo's takeover but left in 2009.
• In May 2013, Ranbaxy pleaded guilty to felony charges related to drug safety and agreed to pay $500 million in civil and criminal fines under a settlement with the US Department of Justice. Daiichi accused the former shareholders of hiding information regarding US regulatory probes. Malvinder Singh says the allegations are false.