Mr. Pankaj Patel
Executive Chairman & Trustee
Mr. Pankaj Patel is the Chairman of Zydus Lifesciences Limited (formerly known as Cadila Healthcare Limited), an innovation-driven, global healthcare company with operations in more than 50 countries worldwide. The group has a team of over 20,000 people worldwide creating healthier communities globally. With experience spanning over 40 years in the Indian pharmaceutical industry, Mr. Patel combines both research and techno-commercial expertise. He has published over 100 research papers in peer-reviewed journals and is a co-inventor of more than 64 patents.
Mr. Pankaj Patel has been the guiding force behind Zydus' fast-tracked growth. The Zydus group bagged the India Pharma Overall Excellence Award and India Pharma Innovation of the Year Award from the Govt. of India.
The group also won the CII Industrial Innovation Grand Jury Award for being the Most Innovative Company of the Year and was declared the most Innovative Pharmaceutical Company by Thomson Reuters. Zydus Cadila aims to be a leading global healthcare provider with a robust product pipeline and be a research-based pharmaceutical company by 2020.
In recognition of his contributions to the healthcare industry in India, recently Mr. Pankaj Patel has been conferred the Leadership in Drug Discovery and Development Award from the South Asian Chapter of the American College of Clinical Pharmacology, the Acharya PC Ray Memorial Gold Medal Award, and the Eminent Pharmacist Award. In January 2014, Mr. Patel was conferred the India Innovator Award 2013 at the India Business Leaders Awards instituted by CNBC. For his entrepreneurial vision, Mr. Patel was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Life Sciences category.
With a firm belief that the right approach to education makes all the difference in shaping future citizens and professionals in a country, Mr. Pankaj Patel is actively involved in various educational institutions and is on the advisory committees and academic councils of several educational institutions.
Mr. Pankaj Patel is currently the President of the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FICCI). He is an Independent Director on the Boards of GRUH Finance Ltd., Torrent Power Ltd., and Nirma Ltd. He is the Chairman of the Board of Bayer Crop Science.
He is a Member of the Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad. He is also the Chairman of the Board of Governors and Society, IIM, Udaipur. He is the Chairperson of the Board of Governors of IIT, Bhubaneswar. Mr. Patel is currently on the Governing Board of The Ahmedabad University and the Chairman of the School of Life Sciences, Ahmedabad University. He is also a Member of the Board of Management of the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies and a Member of the Governing Board of the Gujarat Law Society and Nirma University. He is also a Member on the Board of Governors of the Anant National University, Ahmedabad.
Mr. Pankaj Patel is the Executive Chairman, Vice President, and Trustee of the Gujarat Cancer Society and Chairman of the Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute, a Regional Cancer Centre and one of the largest cancer centres in India, reaching out to the needy and underprivileged cancer patients.