“We are shocked and deeply saddened by a strong supporter and long-time personal friend of AAPI, Mr. Dilip G. Shah’s sudden passing away,” said Dr. Naresh Parikh, President of AAPI. “Mr. Shah has been very closely associated with AAPI and has been regular at AAPI’s Global Health Summit, leading the CEO Forums, for the past several years. His loss has left us with a huge void,” Dr. Parikh said.
“Very big loss for Indian Pharma and his friendship and warm hospitality will always be cherished. A personal and long time confidant and beacon for US India AAPI engagement strategy,” said Anwar Feroz Siddiqi, Chief Strategy Adviser AAPI. “Our heartfelt sympathies and prayers are with Mrs. Smita Shah and family.”
Dilip G. Shah, 77, founder of the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) an organization that represented the interests of Indian pharma industry passed away in Mumbai on Friday, February 22nd, 2019. Known in the industry as “DG”, Mr Shah started the IPA when the Indian pharma companies were trying to find their feet in the global pharma landscape that was dominated by the multinational pharma companies predominantly based out of Europe and USA.
Shah who himself spent most of his career with the MNC drug companies Shah and the IPA became the body that resisted the Intellectual Property Rights that lower income countries like India were forced to sign under the World Trade Organization’s TRIPS agreement.
Under his able leadership, The IPA positioned itself as the voice of generic drug companies that claimed to represent the interests of Indian drug companies who were bullied under these TRIPS agreement. Shah few pharma industry veterans recall was at times even more powerful than the Indian CEO’s whose interests he represented …
As per media reports, Shah and the IPA became the body that resisted the Intellectual Property Rights that lower income countries like India were forced to sign under the World Trade Organization’s TRIPS agreement. The IPA positioned itself as the voice of generic drug companies that claimed to represent the interests of Indian drug companies who were bullied under these TRIPS agreement. Shah few pharma industry veterans recall was at times even more powerful than the Indian CEO’s whose interests he represented to the end of his long cherished career.
In the last two decades since Shah took charge of the IPA, the Indian generic drug industry has grown to become a $5 billion industry, as some of the local companies have gone on to establish their names in the global pharma scene, predominantly the United States. In the last two years, Shah and IPA were involved with the Indian pricing drug regulator, NPPA over regulating prices of medicines in India. The IPA has also been working with the US drug regulators on addressing the quality.
The IPA has also been working with the US drug regulators on addressing the quality issues of Indian drug makers that has halted the industry’s growth in the last three years.
Dilip G. Shah graduated from the premier business school in India, the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad. He has 50 years of varied experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He has addressed several WTO workshops on TRIPS, WIPO seminars on IPRs and Public Health, WHO meetings on Access to Medicines and several other international meetings and conferences. He was a Member of the official Indian Delegation to WTO Ministerial Conference at Cancun. He also appeared before the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) and testified in Investigation No.332-543 Hearing in Washington DC in 2014. One of the senior-most top pharmaceutical professionals in the country, ‘DG’ as fondly called among the pharma fraternity, had over 52 years (1966 onwards) of varied experience in the pharmaceutical industry.
Describing Mr. Shah, known as an one man army of the Indian pharma industry, Dr. Naresh Parikh said, “This fast growing Indian industry has lost its voice. He was one among the mantle bearers who spearheaded India’s transformation to become one of the top generic drug producers in the world. It is a great loss to the entire pharmaceutical industry and his contributions in the areas of advocacy, strategic planning, advisory and knowledge sharing have been invaluable.”
