Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw Biography 
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw is an Indian entrepreneur, serving as the Chairman and Managing Director of Biocon Limited, the biotechnology limited based in Bangalore in India. She started this company in 1978 and made it a fully integrated bio-pharmaceutical company that focuses its research on diabetes, oncology and auto immune diseases. The two subsidiaries of the company are Syngene started in 1994 to provide development support services and Clinigene started in 2000 to provide clinical development services.
She was born on 23rd March 1953 in Bangalore. She finished her schooling at Bishop Cotton Girl’s High School and completed her BSc Zoology course from Mount Carmel College at Bangalore University. She did her post graduation in Malting and Brewing at Ballarat College of Melbourne University. She started her career as a Trainee Brewer in Carlton and United Breweries limited in Calcutta and then worked as a Technical Manager at Standard Maltings Corporation Baroda from 1975 to 1977.
She joined Biocon Biochemicals limited in Ireland as a Trainee Manager in 1978 and in the same year, she started her own company in Bangalore with a capital of Rs. 10,000. She could not raise funds as well as could not find people to work in her company. In spite of various difficulties she had to face, she took the company to greater heights. Biocon became an independent entity in 1998 after Unilever selling its shareholding in Biocon.
In 2004, she started Biocon Foundation to help the economically weaker sections of the society providing them basic health, education and sanitation needs. She helped in the establishment of 1400 bed cancer care center at the Narayana Health City campus at Boommasandra in Bangalore in 2007.
She received Padma Shri Award in 1989 and Padma Bhushan award in 2005, and several other awards like Nikkei Asia Prize for Regional Growth, Express Pharmaceutical Leadership Summit Award for Dynamic entrepreneur, the Economic Times Businesswoman of the Year 2004, etc.
Published: N/A
Updated: August 28, 2011
