KIRAN MUZUMDAR

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (Kannada:

; born 23 March 1953) is an Indian entrepreneur.
She is the Chairman & Managing Director
ofBiocon Limited a biotechnology company based
in Bangalore (Bengaluru), India.

PROFILE

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw was born on March 23, 1953 in Bangalore, India

Mazumdar-Shaw completed her schooling from the citys Bishop Cotton
Girls High School (1968). She wanted to join medical school but instead
took up biology and completed her BSc Zoology Honours course
from Mount Carmel College, Bangalore University (1973). She later did
her post-graduation in Malting and Brewing from Ballarat College,
Melbourne University (1975).
She worked as a trainee brewer in Carlton and United Breweries,
Melbourne and as a trainee maltster at Barrett Brothers and Burston,
Australia. She also worked for some time as a technical consultant at
Jupiter Breweries Limited, Calcutta and as a technical manager at
Standard Maltings Corporation, Baroda between 1975 and 1977.[2]
She started Biocon in 1978 and spearheaded its evolution from an
industrial enzymes manufacturing company to a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company with a well-balanced business portfolio of
products and a research focus on diabetes, oncology and auto-immune
diseases. She also established two subsidiaries: Syngene (1994) to
provide development support services for discovery research and
Clinigene (2000) to cater to clinical development services.

BIOCON

In 1978, she joined Biocon Biochemicals Limited, of Cork,

Ireland as a Trainee Manager. In the same year she started
Biocon in the garage of her rented house in Bangalore with
a seed capital of Rs. 10,000.
Initially, she faced credibility challenges because of her
youth, gender and her untested business model. Not only
was funding a problem as no bank wanted to lend to her,
but she also found it difficult to recruit people for her startup. With single-minded determination she overcame these
challenges only to be confronted with the technological
challenges associated with trying to build a biotech
business in a country facing infrastructural woes.
Uninterrupted power, superior quality water, sterile labs,
imported research equipment, and advanced scientific
skills were not easily available in India during the time.

She is responsible for steering Biocon on a trajectory of

growth and innovation over the years. Within a year of
its inception, Biocon became the first Indian company to
manufacture and export enzymes to USA and Europe.
In 1989, Biocon became the first Indian biotech
company to receive US funding for proprietary
technologies. In 1990, she upgraded Biocons in-house
research program, based on a proprietary solid
substrate fermentation technology.
Today, thanks to her leadership, Biocon is building
cutting-edge capabilities, global credibility and global
scale in its manufacturing and marketing activities. It has
Asias largest insulin and statin facilities also the largest
perfusion-based antibody production facilities.

PHILANTHROPIC ACTIVITIES

n 2004, she started the Biocon Foundation to conduct health, education,

sanitation, and environmental programs to benefit of the economically
weaker sections of society.
The Biocon Foundation's 7 ARY clinics are located where healthcare
facilities are poor and they offer clinical care, generic medicines and
basic tests for those who cannot afford them. Each of the clinics serves a
population of 50,000 people living within a radius of 10 km.[2] All the
clinics organize regular general health checks in remote villages by
bringing in physicians and doctors from network hospitals. Each year, the
Foundation touches more than 300,000 lives through its holistic
healthcare approach.
She helped establish a 1,400-bed cancer care center at the Narayana
Health City campus at Boommasandra, Bangalore, along with Dr. Devi
Shetty of Narayana Hrudayalaya in 2007.
She liked the innovation model and thinking that Dr. Prasad
Kaipa brought to Biocon and funded multi-year research at Indian School
of Business by creating Biocon Cell for Innovation Management [6] as
part of Center for Leadership Innovation and Change.

AWARDS

Mazumdar-Shaw is the recipient of several prestigious awards including

the Nikkei Asia Prize (2009) for Regional Growth, Express
Pharmaceutical Leadership Summit Award (2009) for Dynamic
Entrepreneur, the Economic Times Businesswoman of the Year (2004),
the Veuve Clicquot Initiative For Economic Development For Asia, Ernst
& Young's Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Life Sciences & Healthcare
(2002), Technology Pioneer recognition by World Economic Forum and
The Indian Chamber of Commerce Lifetime Achievement Award.[2]
She has also received the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award (2002), the
Business Woman of the Year Award from the Indian Business
Leadership Award committee, CNBC-TV18 (2006), the Indian Merchants'
Chamber Diamond Jubilee Endowment Trust'sEminent Businessperson
of the Year Award(2006) and the Corporate Leadership Award by the
American India Foundation (2005).[2]
She also received an honorary Doctorate of Science in 2004, from her
alma mater, Ballarat University, in recognition of her contributions to
biotechnology, apart from being awarded honorary doctorates from
University of Abertay, Dundee, UK (2007), University of Glasgow, UK
(2008) and Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK (2008).