She started Biocon with three employees in a rented shed. Forty-eight years on, she wants it to stop being a “me-too company”.

Ms. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw founded Biocon in Bengaluru in 1978 and has chaired it since. In May 2026 she set out a five-year succession plan. In August Biocon reported first-quarter revenue from operations up 10% to Rs 4,336 crore. This month she told industry leaders that in pharma, “the pipeline is the lifeline”.