Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Limited is an Indian pharmaceutical company based in Chennai, founded on 1 July 1992, by Kailasam Raghavendra Rao, an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad (PGP '79) . As of 2007, it was among the top fortune 500 Indian companies by market capitalization.

In 1992, Orchid obtained a certificate for commencement of business and became a public company the following year. It began producing commercially in 1995 and received the Good manufacturing practice certification. In 1999, it became the largest producer of oral and sterile cephalosporin and was ranked among the top five producers of cephalosporin APIs. That same year, the formulation division began operations. The early 2000s, the company established offices in the United States and Russia, then signed an agreement to produce oral cephalosporin for the U.S. market in the mid-2000s.

The company had a joint venture with Bexel allowing it to complete its phase 1(a), (b) and phase 2(a) clinical trails for the anti-diabetic molecule BLX-1002 and get patent clearance in the U.S.. After obtaining the patent, the company made an agreement with pharmaceutical companies in Canada to help produce oral drugs and veterinarian injectables before expanding its market into Europe. In 2008 and 2009, the company received approval to enter the Canadian and Australian markets and established a wholly owned subsidiary in Japan.

Orchid's main products are active pharmaceutical ingredients, including cephalosporins (oral and injectable), carbapenems and penicillin. The other main production is domestic formulations for cardio, anti-diabetic, neuropsychiatry, and critical care applications. It has three research campuses, three formulations manufacturing sites, and two API manufacturing sites in India. It also has one API manufacturing site in China. Orchid has a workforce of over 4,000 employees, with 700 working at Aurangabad plant in Maharashtra.

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