AHMEDABAD — The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) Archives and the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) have jointly launched the 'India Pharma Archives', a digital repository designed to document the 125-year evolution of the Indian pharmaceutical industry.
The publicly accessible archive was inaugurated on Saturday by Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare and Chemicals & Fertilisers, Anupriya Patel, during the IIMA Healthcare Summit in Ahmedabad.
The platform compiles company histories, archival documents, rare films and footage, timelines, and interviews detailing the individuals and institutions that contributed to the development of India's pharmaceutical sector. A central feature of the repository is its collection of oral histories from first-generation pharma founders, recording their accounts of building enterprises and navigating regulatory, scientific, and entrepreneurial environments.
The archive currently spans the period from 1901 to 2025. It houses more than 250 video stories, interviews with over 30 industry leaders, and nearly 1,000 documents and resources. Organizers intend the platform to function as a continuously evolving resource for researchers, students, policymakers, and industry participants.
Speaking on the initiative, Dr. Sharvil Patel, Managing Director of Zydus Lifesciences and President of the IPA, noted that the archive celebrates the sector's collective trajectory and aims to establish a foundation for future collaborations and solutions in healthcare.
The digital repository initiative builds upon 'The Alchemy of Cure', a coffee-table book released earlier this year. The project seeks to maintain the institutional memory of a sector that has grown into a prominent global supplier of medicines and a key component of India's economic landscape.
"The launch of the India Pharma Archives at IIM Ahmedabad is a significant step in preserving the institutional memory of one of India's most critical global sectors. For entrepreneurs, researchers, and business leaders, studying the historical foundations, policy navigation, and resilience of first-generation founders provides invaluable lessons in long-term enterprise building. Documenting these trajectories ensures that the hard-earned lessons of the past continue to guide future innovation and strategy in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries." — Dr. Shishir Gupta, Founder & CEO, StartupLanes
