Zydus Lifesciences Limited is an Indian multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. It is the flagship listed entity of the Cadila group and is engaged in the research, development, manufacture and marketing of a broad range of healthcare products, including generic and branded formulations, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), vaccines, biosimilars, animal health products and consumer wellness products. The company was previously known as Cadila Healthcare Limited before being renamed in 2022.
| Key facts | |
|---|---|
| Type | Public limited company |
| Former name | Cadila Healthcare Limited |
| Industry | Pharmaceuticals |
| Headquarters | Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India |
| Listings | BSE, NSE |
| Group | Zydus / Cadila group |
| Country | India |
The origins of the company lie in Cadila Laboratories, founded in 1952 in Ahmedabad by Ramanbhai Patel and Indravadan Modi. Following a restructuring of the Cadila group in 1995, the businesses associated with the Patel family were reorganised under Cadila Healthcare Limited, while the Modi family interests continued under a separate entity. Cadila Healthcare went public with an initial public offering in 2000 and its shares were listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India.
The company operates under the umbrella branding of Zydus, a name applied across the group's pharmaceutical, animal health and wellness businesses. In 2022, shareholders approved the change of the company's name from Cadila Healthcare Limited to Zydus Lifesciences Limited, aligning the corporate identity with the Zydus brand used in its products and subsidiaries.
Zydus Lifesciences manufactures and markets formulations across multiple therapy areas, including cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, women's health, respiratory, pain management, anti-infective, oncology and central nervous system segments. In addition to formulations, its activities include:
The company has manufacturing and research facilities in Gujarat and other Indian states, and a global presence through subsidiaries and joint ventures across markets in North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia.
Zydus operates a research centre, the Zydus Research Centre, located near Ahmedabad, which works on new chemical entities, biologics, vaccines and novel drug delivery systems. The group has historically pursued in-house drug discovery in addition to generic development. Saroglitazar, a drug indicated for diabetic dyslipidaemia, was developed by the company and approved in India, and is marketed under the brand name Lipaglyn.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Zydus developed ZyCoV-D, a plasmid DNA-based COVID-19 vaccine. It received emergency use authorisation from the Drugs Controller General of India in 2021 and was described at the time as the world's first DNA-based vaccine approved for human use against COVID-19. The vaccine was administered using a needle-free injector.
The company has been led by members of the founding Patel family. Pankaj R. Patel, son of co-founder Ramanbhai Patel, has served as chairman, while Sharvil P. Patel has held the position of managing director, overseeing the group's transition to the Zydus identity and its expansion in research-led areas including biologics and vaccines.
Zydus Lifesciences is among the larger Indian pharmaceutical companies by revenue and product portfolio. Its activities span affordable generics for domestic and export markets, indigenous drug discovery and vaccine development, contributing to India's profile as a major manufacturer and exporter of medicines.