Indravadan Ambalal Modi (18 February 1926 – 26 November 2012) was an Indian pharmaceuticals industrialist who founded

Cadila Pharmaceuticals Cadila Pharmaceuticals is an Indian multinational pharmaceutical company based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies o ...

in Ahmedabad. He is popularly known as the 'Medicine Man of India' for his contribution to the pharmaceutical industry of India post independence. Modi co-founded Cadila Laboratories in 1951 along with his childhood friend Raman Patel to offer cheaper drugs in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. In 1995, the company split into two separate entities; Raman Patel formed Cadila Healthcare while Modi named his company

Early life

Modi was born in

Hansot ’Hansanagari’ but well known as Hansot is a village in Bharuch district, Southern Gujarat, India. It is about southwest of the city of Bharuch, and south of the Narmada River. The village and its surrounding ''taluka'' were acquired by th ...

, Bharuch. He lost his mother while he was very young and was brought up by his grandmother. He graduated in

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

, Baroda College in 1948 and came down to

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

for higher studies. He studied Pharmaceuticals and Fine Chemicals at University Department of Chemical Technology (UDCT). He then did a brief stint as a chief chemist in a chemical manufacturing unit before quitting to start his own venture.

Founding of Cadila Laboratories

Post

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

, India was dominated by multinational drug making companies. There were few Indian drug manufacturing facilities in the market. Modi, in 1952, quit his job and established Cadila Laboratories with his close friend,

Ramanbhai Patel Ramanbhai B. Patel (19 August 1925 – 19 September 2001) was an Indian chemist who founded the operation, along with school friend I A Modi, that eventually became the Ahmedabad-based pharmaceutical company Cadila Laboratories. Patel was born ...

, a pharmacy professor. They pooled in their resources to start making vitamins to treat

Anemia Anemia or anaemia (British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, or a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin. When anemia comes on slowly, t ...

, a disease prevalent in India at that time. In the early days, his wife and grandmother helped out in the company. He would take out Rs. 250 for his monthly expenses and would invest the rest into the business. Cadila started developing innovative products such as Livirubra and Cadila Gripe and formulations such as Isopar for treatment of TB. The company focused on providing innovative products every two years. In 1967, Cadila set up its first factory. In 1970, R&D activities started happening in the company.

Cadila's First Employee

While Modi was one of the founder of the company, his wife, Shilaben was the first employee of Cadila Laboratories. She would wash and label the product herself from a 3-room apartment in Azad Society that was taken on rent for Cadila Laboratories. She inspired her husband to enter into the business of Gripe Water, the first indigenous Gripe Water made in the country.

Cadila Pharmaceuticals and Cadila Healthcare

In the year 1995, Cadila Laboratories split up into

and Cadila Healthcare. Modi, owner of Cadila Pharmaceuticals, brought in his son, Rajiv Modi to take care of the business.

Philanthropy

In the year 1943, Modi's cousin died due to severe illness at the age of 18, due to lack of proper healthcare. Using this as an inspiration, he set up a Kakaba and Kala-Budh Public Charitable Trust under the Bombay Public Charitable Trust Act. Under this, he set up a 30-bed hospital in the village of Hansot to provide modern healthcare facilities to those who cannot afford it at one-third of the original rates. The trust also aids and

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

Government's rural development programs.

Distinguished Positions

* Founding member, Resurgent Group of Gujarat. * Member, National Working Group on Patent Laws, India (NWGPL). * Member, Indian Drug Manufacturers' Association (

IDMA The International Dance Music Awards or IDMAs is an annual awards ceremony held in Miami Beach, Florida, United States as a major part of the Winter Music Conference. The awards have been held every year since the conference's creation in 1985 ...

) * Contributor to Indian Patents Act, 1970 * Contributor, 1986 Drug Policy of Government of India * Vice President, CHEMEXCIL * Promoter, B.V. Patel Pharmaceutical Education and Research Development Centre (PERD) * President, Ahmedabad Management Association, 1991-1993

Awards and recognition

* Lifetime Achievement award, June 2005, Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry. * Express Pharma Pulse Lifetime Achievement Award * Indian Pharmaceutical Association's Ramanbhai Patel Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award * Lifetime Achiever, Power 100: Eminent Personalities of Gujarat * Gujarat Glories Power People 50 * Schroff Memorial National Award 1992 * Outstanding Entrepreneur Award 1993, The Federation of Gujarat Mills and Industries, Baroda * Lifetime Achievement Award, 2009, All India Medical Association * Lifetime Achievement Award, 2010, 3rd Annual Pharmaceutical Leadership Summit by Pharmaceutical Leadership

Death

In his last days, Indravadan Modi developed a

lung disease The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in humans and most other animals, including some snails and a small number of fish. In mammals and most other vertebrates, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side ...

which started deteriorating and was put on a

ventilator A ventilator is a piece of medical technology that provides mechanical ventilation by moving breathable air into and out of the lungs, to deliver breaths to a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or breathing insufficiently. Ventilators ...

for the last 9 days. On November 26, 2012, Indravadan Modi succumbed to the infection. He was cremated in Cadila's campus of

Dholka Dholka is a city and municipality in the Ahmedabad District of the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the headquarters of Dholka Taluka, and is 48 km by road via National Highway 8A southwest of the city of Ahmedabad. Dholka has an average ...

, near Ahmedabad.

References

{{Reflist Indian industrialists Gujarati people