Biocon’s path to affordable innovation

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw started Biocon in a garage in Bangalore, India in 1978. In 2022, the company’s revenues exceeded $1 billion from sales of innovative drugs, biosimilars, generics and research services. Its $3.4 billion acquisition in February of the biosimilars business of Viatris Inc. (NASDAQ:VTRS) has made it one of the largest biosimilars players in the U.S. and Europe.

In an interview with BioCentury, Mazumdar Shaw, executive chair of Biocon Ltd. (NSE:BIOCON; BSE:532523) and Biocon Biologics Ltd., described the challenges she overcame as a young, female CEO at a time when gender discrimination was pervasive in India and most start-ups were run by “gray-haired men who had left large companies to start their own businesses.”...