In the laboratories and boardrooms of Indian pharmaceuticals, Dr. Yusuf Khwaja Hamied became known as a scientist-businessman who believed life-saving medicine should never be a privilege of the rich. Born on 25 July 1936 in Vilnius (then Wilno) to Khwaja Abdul Hamied, the founder of Cipla, and Luba Derczanska, he was raised in a secular household in Bombay. After schooling at Cathedral and John Connon, he went to Christ’s College, Cambridge, where he earned a PhD in organic chemistry in 1960 under the Nobel laureate Lord Alexander Todd.

Returning to India, he joined the family company his father had started in 1935 with the vision of making essential medicines accessible. Yusuf rose to Managing Director in 1976 and later Chairman. Under his leadership Cipla developed process chemistry that allowed the production of high-quality generic drugs at a fraction of multinational prices. His most celebrated stand came in the fight against HIV/AIDS. In 2001 he offered a triple antiretroviral combination for about a dollar a day—dramatically undercutting the tens of thousands of dollars charged by Western firms. “No one should die because they cannot afford a medicine,” he declared, and the offer helped open treatment to millions across Africa and the developing world. Critics called him a “drug pirate”; admirers called him a modern Robin Hood.

He pioneered fixed-dose combinations for HIV, tuberculosis and other diseases, and expanded access far beyond India. Alongside business he remained a scientist and philanthropist, supporting chemistry research and education at Cambridge (where the Department of Chemistry now bears his name) and contributing to palliative care and public health initiatives. The Government of India awarded him the Padma Bhushan in 2005 for his distinguished service in medicine. He has received numerous other honours, including recognition as CNN-IBN Indian of the Year and honorary degrees and fellowships.

From a Cambridge chemist returning home to the leader who forced the world to rethink the price of survival, Yusuf Khwaja Hamied’s life remains a story of scientific skill, moral courage and an unwavering belief that healthcare is a right, not a commodity.