C.K. Kokate, Pharmacy Scientist, Dies at 79

Professor Chandrakant Kishanrao Kokate, a pharmaceutical scientist and academician known for his work on irrational fixed-dose combinations, died on 2 November 2026, aged 79. He was the first pharmacist in India to become a university vice-chancellor.

Academic career

Kokate earned a Bachelor of Pharmacy from Nagpur University in 1967 and a master's degree with a gold medal from the University of Saugar in 1969. He completed his PhD in 1972 and later undertook postdoctoral research and visiting scientist assignments in Germany. He served as vice-chancellor of Kakatiya University and founding vice-chancellor of KLE University, and held additional charge at Acharya Nagarjuna University. He also served as president of the Pharmacy Council of India and authored textbooks, published research papers and guided doctoral and postgraduate students.

Review of fixed-dose combinations

Kokate chaired an expert committee for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare that prepared guidelines on fixed-dose combinations (FDCs). He was instrumental in recommending bans on irrational FDCs.

Important Facts for Exams

• Fixed ingredient ratios: Fixed-dose combinations are mass-produced medicines with specific, unalterable ratios of active ingredients.
• Cocktail terminology: “Drug cocktail” often describes customised separate pills taken together, although the term is sometimes used interchangeably with fixed-dose combinations.
• Polypill threshold: A polypill is a specialised fixed-dose combination containing four or more distinct active ingredients.
• Dose adjustment limitation: Fixed-dose combinations give clinicians less flexibility to adjust an individual ingredient’s dose for patient-specific side effects.