MUMBAI: Desh Bandhu Gupta, founder and chairman of Lupin pharmaceuticals, passed away on Monday. He was 79 and is survived by wife, four daughters and a son.
Gupta founded Lupin in 1968 investing Rs 5,000 that he borrowed from his wife and a loan from Central Bank of India. An MSc in Chemistry, Gupta helped Lupin grow from a domestic firm to a global major. It is now among the global top10 pharma companies producing drugs in paediatrics, cardiovascular, anti-infectives, diabetology, asthma and anti-tuberculosis segment.
Lupin is also the world’s fourth largest generics firm by market capitalisation and sixth by sales. Lupin’s consolidated sales stood at $2.55 billion and net profit at $381 million as on March, 2017.
“We are deeply saddened with the demise of our father early this morning,” Lupin CEO Vinita Gupta and MD Nilesh Gupta said in a joint statement.