Sabinsa’s Anju Majeed, PhD, group executive chairperson, Shaheen Majeed, global managing director and CEO, and the entire Sami-Sabinsa Group announced the sudden passing of Nagabhushanam Kalyanam, PhD, the company’s president of R&D, at 74 years old.

Kalyanam was a scientific advisor to Muhammad Majeed, PhD, founder and chairman of the company, who passed away in March.

Kalyanam obtained an MSc in chemistry from the University of Madras, and PhD in organic chemistry from Baylor University in Texas.

Following two-years of post-doctoral research in the United States on chiral chemistry and chiro-optical methods, he returned to India to work with IPCL (now part of Reliance group), Ciba- Geigy (now Novartis), and SPIC Pharma.

Kalyanam’s primary responsibilities at Sabinsa included development of efficient and novel scientific routes for xenobiotics and intermediates as well as exploration of new business areas. He was co-inventor of multiple Sami-Sabinsa Group patents around the world. Dr. Kalyanam co-authored more than 150 peer-reviewed research papers, including two book chapters in leading scientific journals. He has authored or co-authored eight published books, a few of which are in still in process, describing the historical perspectives, ethnobotany, phytochemistry, various pharmacological activities of multiple herbal extracts and the research into their beneficial compounds. His numerous contributions to the Sami-Sabinsa Group over the past 25 years were recognized at national and international levels in the areas of synthetic methodology, chiral chemistry, and natural products.

“We offer our sincere condolences to the grieving family, friends, and loved ones of Dr. Kalyanam,” said Anju Majeed. “In addition to his research talents and dedication that helped make Sami-Sabinsa Group a very successful and leading a multinational health & life sciences company, he was a kind and thoughtful person and will be deeply missed by us all.”

“Dr. Kalyanam was profoundly devoted to his work, to my father, and the belief that his work could benefit overall health,” said Shaheen Majeed. “He challenged my father, he challenged me, and his contributions to Sabinsa will be etched in stone forever. I am eternally grateful for his wisdom, the insights he brought forth, and the help he gave to all of us.”