THE POWER OF 100: BUSINESS

ACHIEVERS ACROSS THE DOMAINS OF POLITICS, BUSINESS, SCIENCE, THE ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT, SPORTS, EDUCATION, LAW AND DEFENCE WHO ARE SHOWING US WHAT WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT LOOKS LIKE

- Ajay Sukumaran, M.G. Arun, Amarnath K. Menon, Sonal Khetarpal, Chumki Bharadwaj

JOINING THE GLOBAL LEAGUE 

Kiran MazumdarShaw, 70 Executive Chairperson, Biocon Ltd and Biocon Biologics Ltd

THE ONE THING KIRAN MAZUMDAR-SHAW RECALLS from 1978, when she was trying to hire her first set of recruits at Biocon, is how candidates would walk into the garage-office of her home in Bengaluru's Koramangala and want to meet the managing director. On discovering that the 'chit of a girl' sitting behind the desk was the one wanting to hire them, many were plainly disappointed, others even felt cheated. "Today, we have created a global-scale biotech company with very high-end research and scientific capabilities, and which has over 15,000 scientists and engineers."

Her career in biotech, however, is just one part of Kiran's multi-faceted personality. In 2019, she co-founded the start-up Immuneel along with renowned cancer physician Siddhartha Mukherjee to enable access to cell-based immunotherapies for cancer patients in India. She's on the board of numerous global institutions, including the US-based Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Last year, Biocon Biologics acquired the global biosimilars business of the firm's US-based partner Viatris Inc. for $3.34 billion. "I'm trying to create a global leader in biosimilars," says Kiran. "It's very ambitious and I know I'll try very hard to be among the top three, if not at the top."