The First Gen Biotech Legend

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is a living legend and inspiration to all women entrepreneurs who aspire to follow their dream and build their own empire. After all, she started a biotechnology company at a time when the industry was at its utmost infancy in India, let alone a woman leading it. Little wonder that today she is considered a pioneer of the biotechnology industry in India who founded the country’s leading biotechnology enterprise, Biocon.

She has received several national and international awards for her rich contributions towards research, innovation, and affordable healthcare. The US-based Chemical Heritage Foundation has conferred her with the ‘2014 Othmer Gold Medal’ and the Germany-based Kiel Institute for the World Economy has awarded her its coveted ‘2014 Global Economy Prize’ for Business. She has received two of India's highest civilian honours, the Padma Shri (1989) and the Padma Bhushan (2005).

Mazumdar-Shaw has always believed in making her voice heard when it matters. For instance, recently as the Indian biotech industry was facing some uncertainties due to the new US administration under President Donald J. Trump, she has always maintained that it is imperative for US to partner with India to bring down cost of healthcare. India is no longer an outsourced services country anymore but an innovation and knowledge partner, she says.

Mazumdar-Shaw holds key positions in various industry, educational, government, and professional bodies. She is the non executive Chairperson of the Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises (ABLE), a not-for-profit pan-India forum representing the Indian biotechnology sector. She is a founder member of Karnataka’s Vision Group on biotechnology, which she currently chairs. She serves as a member of the governing body of the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission and has previously served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the US Pharmacopeia Convention.

Mazumdar-Shaw is Chairperson of the Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, and has recently been appointed as Global Alumni Ambassador for Australia by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia. She is also on the board of advisors for The National Society of High School Scholars, US and is a founder member of the Society for the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Bangalore. She serves as Independent Member of the Board of Infosys Ltd and features on the Global Advisory Committee for the Women and the Green Economy Campaign (WAGE) initiative.

Mazumdar-Shaw’s commitment to affordable healthcare extends beyond business. Her philanthropic initiatives are directed at making a difference to the lives of the marginalised communities. Through Biocon Foundation’s primary healthcare centres, telemedicine initiatives, health awareness programs, public health and sanitation initiatives and preventive screenings for oral and cervical cancer, she is making an enduring impact on society.

She has also established the 1,400-bed Mazumdar-Shaw Cancer Centre in Bengaluru to deliver affordable world-class cancer care services to patients irrespective of socio-economic status. She has also set up the Mazumdar Shaw Center for Translational Research, a non-profit research institute dedicated to developing scientific breakthroughs for treating a wide range of human diseases. Mazumdar-Shaw is also the second Indian to join the Giving Pledge global initiative created by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates that encourages billionaires to give the majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes.