Khawja Abdul Hamied established a pharmaceutical company named CIPLA in 1935. He dedicated himself to making life-saving inexpensive generic medications for the poorer countries. Cipla’s geographical segments include India, USA, South Africa and the rest of the World. He participated in the independence movement of India with Mahatma Gandhi.

The Company introduced first generation generic antibiotic named Penicillin which saved the lives of many TB patients in India. CIPLA also introduced Respiratory Inhaler (Salbutamol) in India.

Cipla could become one of the first Indian company to roll out drugs Actemra (Tocilizumab) currently used for Rheumatoid arthritis for Covid-19. Actemra was recently approved by China for patients with severe complications of Covid-19.  

The Company products include drugs for cardiovascular disease, child health, dermatology and cosmetology, diabetes, oncology, ophthalmology, osteoporosis, respiratory, urology and  infectious disease such as HIV/AIDs and malaria

Its manufacturing facilities are located in Goa, Bengaluru, Baddi, Indore, Kurkumbh, Patalganga and Sikkim.

Khwaja Abdul Hamied (1898-1972), was born in Aligarh, India. His father Khwaja Abdul Ali (1862-1948) traced his lineage through spiritual guides to the Mughal emperors of India back to Khwaja Ubaidullah Ahrar (1403-1490), a great Naqshbandi Sufi in Uzbekistan.

Abdul Hamied’s mother Masud Jehan Begum (1872-1957) came from the family of Shah Shuja ul-Mulk, the pro-British Amir of Afghanistan (1803-1809 and 1839-1842), whose family fled to India after his assassination in an anti-British uprising. Khwaja Abdul Ali’s uncle was Sir Syed Ahmed Khan (1819-1898), who started Mohammedan Anglo Oriental College in Aligarh which is converted to University in 1920, now famous as Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).

Abdul Hamied studied in England and in 1925 met a Jewish lady Lubna Derczanska (1903-1991) from part of Poland (now Lithuania) in a Cruise in Berlin. In 1928, they married in Berlin’s only mosque, and the following year they were again married in the Choral Synagogue in Wilno, and the marriage was “solemnised” at a register office in London. Lubna was welcomed by Abdul Homied’s parents Abdul Ali and Masud Jehan when she went to Aligarh.

Their son Yusuf was born in Wilno, Poland in 1936 and is the present Chairman of Cipla.

https://qz.com/india/601490/how-a-muslim-jewish-romance-shaped-one-of-indias-biggest-pharma-firms/

(The link is provided by Dr Misbah Siddiki, Department of Chemistry, AMU, Aligarh)

Khawja Abdul Hamied and Lubna Derczanska