Wockhardt is a global

pharmaceutical A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and ...

and

biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...

company headquartered in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

, India. It produces

formulation Formulation is a term used in various senses in various applications, both the material and the abstract or formal. Its fundamental meaning is the putting together of components in appropriate relationships or structures, according to a formula ...

biopharmaceutical A biopharmaceutical, also known as a biological medical product, or biologic, is any pharmaceutical drug product manufactured in, extracted from, or semisynthesized from biological sources. Different from totally synthesized pharmaceuticals, t ...

s, nutrition products,

vaccine A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verified. ...

s and

active pharmaceutical ingredient An active ingredient is any ingredient that provides biologically active or other direct effect in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease or to affect the structure or any function of the body of humans or animals. The ...

s (APIs).

History

Wockhardt was founded by Dr. Habil Khorakiwala in the 1960s. His father

Fakhruddin T. Khorakiwala Fakhruddin T. Khorakiwala was an Indian businessman and Sheriff of Mumbai. From 2000 until his death, he was the chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia. He was a well-known Indian businessman, and founded the Akbarallys group of departmental sto ...

had acquired Worli Chemical Works in 1959. This was incorporated as Wockhardt Pvt. Ltd., in 1973. Wockhardt Ltd. was incorporated on 8 July 1999. In the 1990s, Wockhardt gained market share with its painkiller Proxyvon (opioid

tramadol Tramadol, sold under the brand name Ultram among others, is an opioid pain medication used to treat moderate to moderately severe pain. When taken by mouth in an immediate-release formulation, the onset of pain relief usually begins within an h ...

paracetamol Paracetamol, also known as acetaminophen, is a medication used to treat fever and mild to moderate pain. Common brand names include Tylenol and Panadol. At a standard dose, paracetamol only slightly decreases body temperature; it is inferi ...

) and blood pressure drugs (

lisinopril Lisinopril is a medication of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor and is used to treat high blood pressure, heart failure, and after heart attacks. For high blood pressure it is usually a first-line treatment. It is also used to ...

, etc.). In 1995, it expanded into

, and subsequently started producing

intravenous fluid Intravenous therapy (abbreviated as IV therapy) is a medical technique that administers fluids, medications and nutrients directly into a person's vein. The intravenous route of administration is commonly used for rehydration or to provide nutrie ...

s. Wockhardt is the first company outside the US and Europe to manufacture recombinant human insulin. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, Wockhardt signed a contract with the

Government of the United Kingdom ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal coat of arms of t ...

to fill-finish the

Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine The Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID19 vaccine, sold under the brand names Covishield and Vaxzevria among others, is a viral vector vaccine for prevention of COVID-19. Developed in the United Kingdom by Oxford University and British-Swedish com ...

at the company's facility in

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the county ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. The contract was extended until August 2022. In August 2021, Wockhardt announced that it signed an agreement with Dubai-based Enso Healthcare and Russian firm Human Vaccine LLC to contract manufacture the

Sputnik V Sputnik V (russian: Спутник V, the brand name from RDIF) or Gam-COVID-Vac (russian: Гам-КОВИД-Вак, the name under which it is legally registered and produced) is an adenovirus viral vector vaccine for COVID-19 developed by t ...

and

Sputnik Light Sputnik Light (russian: Спутник Лайт, Sputnik Layt or Lajt) is a single dose COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology. It consists of the first dose of the Sputnik V vaccine, wh ...

vaccines in India. The company has manufacturing plants in India, UK, Ireland, France and US, and subsidiaries in US, UK, Ireland and France.

Mergers and acquisitions

Wockhardt's acquisitions include Wallis Laboratory, UK (1998); Merind, India (1998); CP Pharmaceuticals, UK (2003); Espharma GmbH, Germany (2004);

Dumex Dumex is an infants' and children's nutrition company. Its products are growing-up milk and follow-on milk. Dumex is a part of Groupe Danone, which is headquartered in Paris, France. Dumex products is one of the Danone Group, company of Danone ...

, India (2006); Pinewood Laboratory Ireland (2006); Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals, US (2007); and Negma, France (2007). Wockhardt's debt following the acquisitions was close to Rs 38 billion, and

Habil Khorakiwala Habil Khorakiwala is the founder and Chairman of Indian multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company Wockhardt. He founded Wockhardt in 1967, which since then has grown into one of the top Indian makers of generic drugs, formulations, ...

quit as managing director. The board of directors, on 31 March 2009 approved the appointments of Habil Khorakiwala's sons Murtaza Khorakiwala and Huzaifa Khorakiwala as managing director and executive director respectively.

Subsidiaries

Wockhardt Hospitals Wockhardt Hospitals Ltd is a tertiary care, super speciality healthcare network in India offering healthcare services. The chain of hospitals is owned by the promoters of Wockhardt, a global pharmaceutical company. It has six hospitals across ...

* Wockhardt Global Schools * Wockhardt Foundation

In popular culture

Wockhardt is known for producing cough syrup with the sedative

promethazine Promethazine is a first-generation antihistamine, antipsychotic, sedative, and antiemetic used to treat allergies, insomnia, and nausea. It may also help with some symptoms associated with the common cold and may also be used for sedating pe ...

and the opiate

codeine Codeine is an opiate and prodrug of morphine mainly used to treat pain, coughing, and diarrhea. It is also commonly used as a recreational drug. It is found naturally in the sap of the opium poppy, ''Papaver somniferum''. It is typically use ...

, used in the recreational street drug lean, which is sometimes referred to as "Wock", short for Wockhardt. It is referenced by rapper

Lil Yachty Miles Parks McCollum (born August 23, 1997), known professionally as Lil Boat, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and producer. He first gained recognition on the internet in 2015 for his singles " One Night" and "Minnesota" (featuring ...

on his song

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

, where he says "I took the Wock to Poland".

References

External links