Mathrubhumi
Article By C.M Vinod Kumar
April 14, 2003
Bangalore.

Dr. Majeed - who knows the pulse of pharmacy

 

Dr.Muhammed Majeed is the Managing Director of one of the major companies in India, which deals with plant biotechnology and fermentation technology. He left his highly paid job from a Pharmaceutical research firm in US and started a venture of his own.

Dr. Majeed a native of Quilon, Kerala is now heading a business chain which has a turnover of 270 crore. The central office SABINSA Corporation is in Piscataway, New Jersey. Apart from SABINSA it has four more production units in US. The central office in Karnataka is Sami Labs Ltd, Bangalore. The other production units here are Anju Phyto Chemicals, Organica Aromatics, Sami Spices (Cochin) - all part of his realm of business. The company has offices in Japan and Dubai also.

Dr.Majeed is targeting a business with a turnover of 500 crore in India by 2005. He also pointed out that now the Central Government has a very supportive attitude towards the biotechnology research. His objective is the innovation and the maximum utilization of the possibility of Genetic Engineering in medicinal application. Indian Ayurvedic medicines, food supplements and medicines made of herbal extracts are highly demanded in US Market. Dr.Majeed’s contribution to this field is remarkable. He introduced the greatest treasure of our Ayurvedic medicine to US market. He is engrossed in innovating new applications of traditional medicines through his research. In biotechnology, Research never ends. By implementing these research results on business base, he has developed a new market for our products. Guggulipid-a medicine from Commiphora Mukul for reducing cholesterol, Curcuminoids-an extract from Curcumin for liver disease, L-selenomethionine- for protecting health, an extract from Garcinia Cambogia called Citrin for weight loss, Fenufibers-from fenugreek are all his medicinally valued products which hit the foreign market. Thus his victory paved the way for all the other Indian investors into foreign market. They have 8 products patented in medicinal application and 24 patents are pending. About 9 percent of the company’s revenue is spent on research and innovation. They have a special clinical research group of efficient scientists. A large amount of the total investment is used on raising the market and for research. Currently there are more than 100 ongoing projects in the R&D.

Of course the story behind Dr.Majeed who had only 8 dollars to spare when he landed in US 28 years ago, is of exertion and intellect. Even now, he keeps the habit of working 16 hours a day. Aspiration, assiduous nature and intellect are the secrets behind his success.

Dr.Muhammed Majeed, the fifth son of Edappally Kottayil Muhammed Kunju and Fathima Beevi had a clear view about his future during his studies. He had done his Pre-Degree from Fathima Matha College, Quilon, B-Pharm from Thiruvananthapuram Medical college and then reached Chicago. He started his career in the maintenance section of a pharmaceutical research company. In those diligent days, he used to travel 80 miles and continued his studies along with work, and attained his Masters in Industrial Pharmacy, then a Doctorate too. He started working as Research Pharmacist in famous companies like Carter-Wallace, Paco Research etc. The experience that he earned through these years gave him self-confidence to start his own enterprise. He started Sabinsa Corporation in US in the name of his wife who hails from Thiruvananthapuram, then Sami Labs Ltd. (Sami) and Anju Phytochemicals (Anju) in Bangalore under his daughters names .His son Shaheen who finished his general management studies from US is also supporting him all the business ventures. Including efficient scientists, more than 1000 staffs are working with his business group.

On his path of prosperity, Majeed’s business divisions were honored with a number of awards. Export performance in Agro food industry, National award for Basic Drugs, CSIR award for research activities, Karnataka State Government’s Visvesvaraya award for exports, Spices Board’s award for developing new products are all just a few of his account of triumph. The Company is now more interested in cosmetic products.