KIRAN MAZUMDAR-SHAW

1953–

Founder of Biocon, the largest biopharmaceutical firm in India, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has developed cost-effective ways of providing people in poorer countries with affordable health care.

Born in Bangalore, India, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw gained a degree in zoology and initially hoped to go to medical school. Encouraged by her father, who was head brewmaster at United Breweries, she instead attained a master’s degree in brewing from the University of Ballarat in Australia. On returning to India, however, she found that, as a woman, it was difficult to secure a managerial position. In 1978, after meeting Leslie Auchincloss, founder of Irish-based Biocon Biochemicals, she began Biocon India in her garage. With just two employees, the company manufactured enzymes for use in alcoholic drinks and exported them to Europe and the US.

Mazumdar-Shaw has grown Biocon into a thriving multinational biopharmaceutical company. She has kept the business focused on affordable health care, reducing the costs of therapy for diseases such as cancer. In 2009, she established the Mazumdar-Shaw Medical Center, a research institute dedicated to developing more effective treatments for a wide range of diseases.