Centaur founder wins lifetime achievement award at AWACS

SD Sawant, Founder and Managing Director, Centaur Pharmaceuticals was recently honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award by AWACS for his exceptional contribution to the Indian pharmaceutical industry. AWACS awards are highly acclaimed awards in the pharmaceutical industry for extraordinary work.

Speaking on the occasion, Sawant acknowledged the contribution of his German bosses in his formative years and SK Rangnekar and MB Padgaonkar, his Indo-pharma colleagues and co-founders of Centaur Pharmaceuticals. He also thanked the 3000+ Centaurians who have helped build Centaur.

“In my 60 years in the pharmaceutical industry, I have faced three kinds of people. Those who have helped me in my difficult times, those who left me in my difficult times and those who have put me in difficult times. But I am grateful to all of them. I do not believe in age, I believe in energy. I still set goals that make me jump out of bed every morning. Goals always seem impossible until they are achieved, and success only means you keep trying without losing your enthusiasm,” he added.

Born in 1938 in Karwar, Sawant completed his graduation in Science and post-graduation degrees in Law and Management. In 1958, he joined the then Bombay Police as a sub inspector but soon realised his interests lay elsewhere. He joined Indo Pharma, a German pharmaceutical firm in 1960 and worked there till 1978, assuming progressively responsible cross functional management positions.

In 1978, he founded Centaur Pharmaceuticals, which commenced operations in Mumbai as a loan license manufacturer and started marketing their own brands in select states in India. A WHO-GMP formulations API facility was set up in Goa and Ambernath respectively. Centaur exports to 110 countries across five continents.