Sami Labs chairman Dr Rajinder K Bammi passed away on December 15, 2012. The leading scientist was aged 74 years and died of massive cardiac arrest.

A veteran in the pharma field having worked with Ford Foundation and Cipla, Dr Bammi joined Sabinsa Corporation, New Jersey, in 1997. In 1999, he was elevated as the Chairman of Sami Labs Limited, Bangalore which is also the holding company of Sabinsa.

Born in Punjab, Dr Bammi did his MS in Genetics from University of Toronto, Canada and completed Ph.D. from California, USA, in 1964, before starting an illustrious career as a top scientist and a scholar. He joined the Ford Foundation as the Project Director for the study of raw materials for steroids. In 1971 he joined Cipla as a member of the Board of Directors where he continued till 1997. He left Cipla in 1997 to join Sabinsa which is the marketing arm of Sami Labs.

Sami Labs, a leader in the biotech and nutraceutical arena with presence in different parts of the world like Europe, Japan, Australia, the United States and China, was founded by eminent scientist Dr Muhammed Majeed.

Terming the contributions of Dr Bammi in the phenomenal growth of the company as 'invaluable,' Dr Majeed said the late scientist was an integral part of the R&D efforts in the field of nutraceuticals and herbals that helped the company achieve a large number of patents.

Dr Bammi was admitted to Vikram Hospital in Bangalore on December 12, following a severe cardiac arrest. He breathed his last at 6 pm on Saturday. He is survived by his wife Doris and three daughters.