Background
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw was born on March 23, 1953, in Pune, Maharashtra, India, to Rasendra Mazumdar and Yamini Mazumdar. She has a brother named Ravi Mazumdar. Her father worked as the head brewmaster at United Breweries.
2011
ITPB, Whitefield, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560066, India
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director of Biocon Limited announcing the earnings for the half-year ended September 2011 at Taj Vivanta hotel and demonstrating the new device "Insupen" at the conference on October 20, 2011, in Bangalore, India. (Photo by Gireesh GV)
2011
1, Man Singh Rd, South Block, Man Singh Road Area, New Delhi, Delhi 110001, India
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman & Managing Director of Biocon Limited, during a session of CII National Conference and Annual Session at Hotel Taj Mahal on April 8, 2011, New Delhi, India. (Photo by Ankit Agrawal)
2014
1 Chome-3-2 Ōtemachi, Chiyoda City, Tokyo 100-0004, Japan
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairman of Biocon Ltd., left, speaks to an attendee during a luncheon hosted by Japanese business groups at the headquarters of the business lobby Keidanren in Tokyo, Japan, on Monday, September 1, 2014. Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi
2006
Bangalore Elevated Tollway Limited, BTM Phase 1, Electronic City Phase II, Electronic City, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560100, India
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director, Biocon Ltd., outside the office, in Bangalore, India. (Photo by Deepak G Pawar)
2007
New Delhi, India
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director, Biocon Ltd. at India Today Conclave-2007 in New Delhi, India (Photo by Bandeep Singh)
2007
Bangalore, India
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director of Biocon Limited poses for a profile shoot during an interview on September 21, 2007, in Bangalore, India. (Photo by Hemant Mishra)
2007
Bangalore, India
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairman, and Managing Director of Biocon Ltd, photographed during an interview with Mint in Bangalore. (Photo by Hemant Mishra)
2007
Bangalore, India
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairman, and Managing Director of Biocon Ltd, photographed during an interview with Mint in Bangalore. (Photo by Hemant Mishra)
2010
Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023, United States
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw attends Time's 100 most influential people in the world gala at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center on May 4, 2010, in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo)
2010
Bangalore, India
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, CMD Biocon at MINT s Debate on forthcoming budget, shoot happened on February 15, 2010, in Bangalore, India. (Photo by Hemant Mishra)
2010
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, CMD Biocon. (Photo by Hemant Mishra)
2011
ITPB, Whitefield, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560066, India
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director of Biocon Limited announcing the earnings for the half-year ended September 2011 at Taj Vivanta hotel and demonstrating the new device "Insupen" at the conference on October 20, 2011, in Bangalore, India. (Photo by Gireesh GV)
2011
1, Man Singh Rd, South Block, Man Singh Road Area, New Delhi, Delhi 110001, India
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman & Managing Director of Biocon Limited, during a session of CII National Conference and Annual Session at Hotel Taj Mahal on April 8, 2011, New Delhi, India. (Photo by Ankit Agrawal)
2014
1 Chome-3-2 Ōtemachi, Chiyoda City, Tokyo 100-0004, Japan
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairman of Biocon Ltd., left, speaks to an attendee during a luncheon hosted by Japanese business groups at the headquarters of the business lobby Keidanren in Tokyo, Japan, on Monday, September 1, 2014. Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi
2015
Bangalore, India
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director of Biocon Limited poses for a profile shoot during an interview on August 27, 2010, in Bangalore, India. (Photo by Hemant Mishra)
2015
Bengaluru, India
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw poses for a profile shoot on September 16, 2015, in Bengaluru, India (Photo by Hemant Mishra )
2015
Bengaluru, India
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw poses for a profile shoot on September 16, 2015, in Bengaluru, India (Photo by Hemant Mishra)
2016
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, co-founder and managing director of Biocon Ltd. Photographer: Dhiraj Singh
2018
Bengaluru, India
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, managing director and co-founder of Biocon Ltd., listens during an interview in Bengaluru, India, on Wednesday, March 14, 2018. Photographer: Samyukta Lakshmi)
2018
Cambridge, England, United Kingdom
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw on April 18, 2018, in Cambridge, England. (Photo by Chris Williamson)
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, childhood photo
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, childhood photo
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw was born on March 23, 1953, in Pune, Maharashtra, India, to Rasendra Mazumdar and Yamini Mazumdar. She has a brother named Ravi Mazumdar. Her father worked as the head brewmaster at United Breweries.
As a child growing up in Bangalore, India, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw was aware of her country’s national pride in its contributions to chemistry and related sciences. She was also well aware of the cultural norms that often limited the social mobility of women. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw completed her initial schooling from Bishop’s Cotton Girl’s High School in 1968.
The daughter of a brewmaster for India-based United Breweries, Mazumdar-Shaw originally planned to follow in her father’s footsteps. Kiran’s father was a visionary father, who advised her to study Fermentation Science and train to become a brewmaster. In those early days, it was a very non-traditional field for a woman to become a brewmaster. Kiran embarked on an unknown journey with her father’s faith and advice. She earned an undergraduate degree in zoology from Bangalore University in 1973 and a graduate degree in brewing from the University of Ballarat, Melbourne, in 1975.
Kiran began her professional career working as a trainee brewer at Carlton & United Beverages in 1974. After returning to India and facing difficulties in getting a brewery management position because of her gender, Mazumdar-Shaw turned to Europe. After deciding to try her luck in Scotland, a chance meeting with Leslie Auchincloss, founder of the biotechnology company Biocon Biochemicals, changed her direction.
Later that year she founded Biocon in India with an initial capital of only 10,000 rupees. The business was not easy due to a lack of funds. All the banks she turned to for loans were hesitant because biotechnology was not a familiar concept in India at that time.
Within a year Biocon had become the first Indian company to export enzymes to the United States and Europe, but progress was slowed as Mazumdar-Shaw continued to face skepticism and discrimination. She found it difficult to find employees in India who were willing to work for a woman. Investors were equally hard to come by, and some vendors refused to do business with her unless she hired a male manager. Kiran was not discouraged from this lack of support. Instead, she worked hard with whatever she had and built a company that is now recognized as one of the leading firms of the company.
Nevertheless, the company had begun to turn a profit by the time Auchincloss sold his interest in Biocon India to Unilever in 1989. Imperial Chemical Industries bought Unilever’s stake in 1997 but eventually agreed to sell its shares to Mazumdar-Shaw’s husband, textile executive John Shaw, who subsequently joined Biocon’s management team.
Biocon's initial operation was to extract an enzyme from papaya. Under Kiran Mazumdar Shaw's stewardship, Biocon transformed from an industrial enzymes company to an integrated biopharmaceutical company with strategic research initiatives. Today, Biocon is recognized as India's pioneering biotech enterprise.
Over the years, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw’s developed immense business acumen with her visionary decisions. She was perhaps one of the firsts, who noticed the potential for Statins, a cholesterol-fighting drug. In 2001, the patent of the cholesterol-lowering drug Lovastatin expired. Biocon immediately began its development and expanded to other forms of Statins.
In 2004, Biocon came up with an IPO and the issue was over-subscribed by over 30 times. Post-IPO, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw held close to 40% of the stock of the company and was regarded as India's richest woman with an estimated worth of Rs. 2,100 crore. After Biocon got an IPO in 2004, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw became the richest woman in India. Because of her strong determination, Kiran steered her company towards growth and success. She made more than 2000 high-value R&D licensing deals from 2005 to 2010.
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 the Indian School of Business by creating Biocon Cell for Innovation Management as part of the Center for Leadership Innovation and Change.
In 2007, Biocon was ranked by Med Ad News as one of the leading biotech companies worldwide and the 7th biggest biotechnology employer in the world. Kiran is responsible for Biocon’s innovative abilities, worldwide reliability, and global scale in marketing and manufacturing activities.
Today Biocon delivers world-class therapeutics to patients around the globe, is India’s largest producer of insulin, and has pioneered the world’s only Pichia-based recombinant human insulin, which is now available in over 40 countries. Mazumdar-Shaw is the chairman and managing director of the company.
Kiran founded the Biocon Foundation which is a philanthropic organization carrying out environmental and health programs to help the weak parts of the society. In 2007, she also established a cancer care center in Bangalore. Her philanthropic initiative, The Mazumdar Shaw Medical Centre, aims to create a sustainable, affordable cancer care model.
Kiran's philanthropy is largely focused on healthcare. Mazumdar-Shaw wanted to be a doctor but couldn't get into medical school. In 2019, she and husband John Shaw, donated $7.5 million to the University of Glasgow to create a research hub and a professorial chair of precision oncology.
She also joined Bill & Melinda Gates and the growing fraternity of the Giving Pledge in their philanthropic efforts to make this world a better place, becoming the second Indian to take the Giving Pledge, which encourages billionaires to give away their wealth for social good.
Quotations:
"As you become more successful, the gender barrier disappears. The credibility challenges you have during your growing up years start disappearing when you start demonstrating success."
"I want to be remembered as someone who put India on the scientific map of the world in terms of large innovation. I want to be remembered for making a difference in global healthcare. And I want to be remembered as someone who did make a difference to social-economic development in India."
"I really believe that entrepreneurship is about being able to face failure, manage failure, and succeed after failing."
"I have never let gender get in my way. It has taken me over 30 years to get from a garage to the huge campus that we have today. And it’s been a long journey."
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw was elected as a member of the United States National Academy of Engineering in 2019 for the development of affordable biopharmaceuticals and the biotechnology industry in India.
In 1998, Kiran Mazumdar got married to Scotsman John Shaw.