Biotech CEO Sisterhood: Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, builder of India's leading biotech enterprise and a pioneer in the development of biologics and biosimilars, shares her story and learnings from business

Interviewed by Sisterhood editorial board member Sheila Gujrathi, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw describes her beginnings in designing enzymes, and eventually pioneering biologics and biosimilars after an initial success in making recombinant human insulin for the India market. She discusses her emphasis on affordable innovation and shares business learnings from her career.

Biographies

Ms. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is a pioneer of the biotechnology industry in India and the founder of the country’s leading biotechnology enterprise, Biocon. Named among TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world, Ms. Mazumdar-Shaw is recognized as a thought leader who has made her country proud by building a globally recognized biopharmaceutical enterprise that is committed to innovation and affordability in delivering best-in-class therapeutics to patients across the globe.

As a global influencer, she is ranked among ‘World’s 25 Most Influential People in Biopharma’ by Fierce Biotech, Forbes magazine’s ‘World’s 100 Most Powerful Women’ and Fortune’s ‘Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Asia-Pacific.’ She has been recognized as the only Indian on Forbes’ list of ‘World’s Self-Made Women Billionaires.’ She has been featured in ‘The Worldview 100 List’ of the most influential visionaries by Scientific American magazine and named among the ‘100 Leading Global Thinkers’ by Foreign Policy magazine. She has been ranked as one of the world’s top 20 inspirational leaders in the field of biopharmaceuticals by The Medicine Maker Power List 2021, an index of the 100 most influential people across the globe in the field of medicine, where she has been featured consecutively since 2015.

Ms Mazumdar-Shaw holds a bachelor’s degree in science (Zoology Hons.) from Bangalore University and has earned a master’s degree in malting and brewing from Ballarat College, Melbourne University. She has been awarded with several honorary degrees from Ballarat (2004), University of Abertay (2007), University of Glasgow (2008), Heriot-Watt University (2008), National University of Ireland (2012) and Trinity College, Dublin (2012) for her pre-eminent contributions in the field of biotechnology.

Sheila Gujrathi, MD is a biotech entrepreneur, healthcare investor, and drug developer with over 25 years of experience. She serves as chair of ADARx, Ventyx, and Lila Bio, and director of Janux. She previously served as chair of Turning Point (acquired by BMS for $4.1B) and ImmPACT Bio (acquired by Lyell). Dr. Gujrathi is the co-founder and former CEO of Gossamer Bio. Prior to Gossamer Bio, she served as chief medical officer of Receptos (acquired by Celgene for $7.2B). At Receptos, she led the development of Zeposia®, which is approved for multiple sclerosis and for ulcerative colitis. Previously, she was the immunology therapeutic area head at BMS and held multiple roles in immunology and oncology at Genentech. Earlier in her career, she was a management consultant at McKinsey and completed her medical training at Harvard, UCSF and Stanford.

Dr. Gujrathi has earned multiple awards, including Corporate Directors Forum Director of the Year; Healthcare Technology Report Top 25 Women Leaders; Athena Pinnacle Award, and was named among the Fiercest Women in Life Sciences. Dr. Gujrathi is passionate about making the working world safe and inclusive for women and other minority groups. She is co-founder of the Biotech CEO Sisterhood and the South Asian Biopharma Alliance. She received both her M.D. and B.S. in biomedical engineering in the accelerated Honors Program in Medical Education at Northwestern University where she was the 2024 commencement speaker.