Samih Darwazah


Samih Darwazah was the founder of Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Jordan's largest pharmaceutical business, the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources from 1995 to 1996, and later a senator in the Jordanian parliament.

Early life

Samih Darwazah was born in Nablus, the son of a tea merchant father.
He studied for a master's degree at the American University of Beirut, Darwazah received a master's degree from the St. Louis College of Pharmacy, Missouri.

Career

He worked for Eli Lilly from 1964 to 1976, before establishing Hikma Pharmaceuticals in 1978. Between 1995 and 1996 he served as Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources to the Government of Jordan. He also founded the Jordan Trade Association and was a member of the Advisory Economic Council to His Majesty the King of Jordan. In 2007, Darwazah was named the Ernst & Young Middle East Entrepreneur Of The Year. Darwazah was chairman of Capital Bank.
Darwazah founded Hikma in 1978 in Amman, Jordan. With the help of his children, who joined the business in its early days, Hikma grew from a small factory in Jordan into the largest regional supplier of pharmaceuticals in the Middle East and North Africa region. The company also expanded outside the MENA region, establishing operations in Europe and the US. Today Hikma operates in around 50 countries, selling a broad range of branded generics, generic injectables, non-injectable generics and in-licensed patented products. In 2005, the company floated on the London Stock Exchange and in March 2015 it entered the FTSE 100 index.

Publications

In 2004, Darwazah published his business memoir, Building a Global Success.

Personal life

He was married to Samira Fadli and they had four children, sons Said and Mazen, and daughters May and Hana, all of whom survived him. His son, Said Darwazah, succeeded him as CEO in 2007.