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Alembic Pharmaceuticals

Alembic Pharmaceuticals Limited is an Indian multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Vadodara, Gujarat. The company is engaged in the development, manufacture and marketing of pharmaceutical products, pharmaceutical substances and intermediates. It is one of the oldest pharmaceutical enterprises in India, with origins dating back to the founding of the parent Alembic group in the late nineteenth century.

Key facts
Type Public company
Industry Pharmaceuticals
Headquarters Vadodara, Gujarat, India
Country of origin India
Parent group Alembic Group
Listings BSE, NSE
Products Formulations, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs)

Background

The Alembic enterprise traces its history to 1907, when it was established in Baroda (now Vadodara) as one of the earliest indigenous pharmaceutical ventures in colonial India. Over the decades it grew from a manufacturer of tinctures and alcohol-based formulations into a diversified pharmaceutical business with both branded formulations for the domestic market and bulk drugs for export.

Alembic Pharmaceuticals Limited in its present form emerged following a corporate restructuring of the older Alembic Limited, under which the pharmaceutical business was demerged into a separately listed entity. The non-pharmaceutical operations remained under the original Alembic Limited.

Operations

The company operates manufacturing facilities in Gujarat and elsewhere in India, producing finished dosage forms as well as active pharmaceutical ingredients. Its product portfolio spans therapeutic areas including anti-infectives, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, gynaecology, diabetology and pain management. Alembic markets prescription medicines in India through a field force of medical representatives and exports generic formulations and APIs to regulated and semi-regulated international markets, including the United States and Europe.

Alembic has invested in research and development infrastructure for generic formulations, with abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) filings made with the United States Food and Drug Administration. The company also undertakes contract manufacturing and supplies APIs to other pharmaceutical firms.

Corporate structure

Alembic Pharmaceuticals is part of the broader Alembic Group, which is associated with the Amin family of Vadodara. The group includes interests in pharmaceuticals, real estate and other businesses. Shares of Alembic Pharmaceuticals are publicly traded on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India.

Significance

As one of India's longest-established pharmaceutical companies, Alembic occupies a notable place in the history of Indian industrial enterprise. Its survival and expansion across more than a century, including the transition from a colonial-era apothecary business to a multinational generics manufacturer, illustrate the broader trajectory of the Indian pharmaceutical industry, which today is among the largest suppliers of generic medicines globally.

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