Dr. Yusuf K. Hamied, chairman of the Indian drug giant Cipla Ltd., electrified the global health community a decade ago when he said he could produce cocktails of AIDS medicines for $1 per day — a fraction of the price charged by branded pharmaceutical companies. That price has since fallen to 20 cents per day, and more than six million people in the developing world now receive treatment, up from little more than 2,000 in 2001.
He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honour by Government of India in 2005.
Hamied was awarded the 'CNN-IBN Indian of the Year' in the category of business by CNN-IBN in 2012 "for taking on multinational pharma companies and making some of the essential drugs more affordable to the masses in the developing countries. In late 2013, he was also named one of the India's "25 Greatest Global Living Legends" by news broadcaster NDTV. He was also recently interviewed for the Creating Emerging Markets project at the Harvard Business School, discussing at length his strategies to provide AIDS treatments and other drugs to help treat poor people in the developing world.
He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honour by Government of India in 2005.
In 2009 the Yusuf Hamied Centre was opened at Christ's College, Cambridge. The centre features a bronze portrait bust of Hamied by fellow Christ's College alumnus, Anthony Smith.
In September 2011, in a piece about how he was trying to radically lower costs of biotech drugs for cancer, diabetes and other noncommunicable diseases, The New York Times wrote of Hamied:
Hamied was awarded the 'CNN-IBN Indian of the Year' in the category of Business by CNN-IBN in 2012 "for taking on multinational pharma companies and making some of the essential drugs more affordable to the masses in the developing countries. In late 2013, he was also named one of the India's "25 Greatest Global Living Legends" by news broadcaster NDTV. He was also recently interviewed for the Creating Emerging Markets project at the Harvard Business School, discussing at length his strategies to provide AIDS treatments and other drugs to help treat poor people in the developing world.
Hamied's role in the battle for mass antiretroviral treatment in Africa is portrayed in the documentary Fire in the Blood (2013 film). In its review of the film, India Today noted that "the story of Yusuf Hamied will make every Indian proud as he was the only man who decided to walk against the tide and sell drugs to save lives without focusing on profits."
As of January 2016, Yusuf Hamied has a net worth of US$1.45 billion.
