Dr Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw from India wins the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year 2020
Dr Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairwoman of India-based Biocon Limited, has been named World Entrepreneur of the Year. Her victory was announced during an innovative online gala. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw beat 46 entrepreneurs, winners of regional editions of the competition held in 41 countries. She is already the third Indian world winner in the competition's 20-year history. Her predecessors were: in 2005 Narayana Murthy, founder of Infosys Technologies Limited, and in 2014 Uday Kotak, founder of Kotak Mahindra Bank.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is also the second woman to win the Entrepreneur of the Year title. The first, in 2011, was Olivia Lum from Singapore, founder of Hyflux Limited.
From a garage to a global biotech leader
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is 67 years old. In 1978 she founded Biocon, a company dealing in bioenzymes. At the time she had two employees and $500 in capital. Today Biocon employs over 11,000 people and is one of the largest biotech companies in Asia, with $800 million in revenue in 2019. Biocon and its subsidiaries influence the global healthcare system. Thanks to this, millions of people with diabetes have access to cheaper insulin, and people battling cancer, rheumatoid arthritis or other devastating diseases have access to cheaper, biosimilar drugs.
Manny Stul, vice-chairman of Moose Toys and chairman of the Jury of the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year competition, said "Kiran is an entrepreneur who inspires and shows that determination, perseverance and innovation bring long-term value. The jury was greatly impressed by her ability to build and grow a company over the past 30 years. As well as her integrity and charitable work that impacts the whole world. She built India's largest biopharmaceutical company on the basis of compassionate capitalism, putting patients' needs ahead of profit." Dr Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, founder and chairwoman of Biocon Limited, said "The foundation of entrepreneurship is solving problems. From my experience as an entrepreneur, the biggest opportunities often arise in the hardest times. My goal is global healthcare and ensuring universal access to life-saving medicines. And the responsibility of an entrepreneur is greater than just delivering shareholder value. Wealth creation can be a catalyst for change. All entrepreneurs are responsible for the world around them and for the communities in which they operate. Women play a significant role in economic development; their contribution has been ignored for too long. We must use the platform of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year competition to encourage women to pursue entrepreneurship. I am honored to receive this award."
According to Carmine Di Sibio, global head of EY,
"entrepreneurs are visionaries whom nothing can stop. They inspire growth and prosperity by building extraordinary companies and providing services. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw's passion for creating affordable yet modern pharmaceutical alternatives has given patients around the world low-cost access to healthcare. Her innovation contributed to the incredible growth of Biocon Limited and made it possible to diversify the company's portfolio of therapies for chronic diseases. She truly is an inspiring World Entrepreneur of the Year." "I congratulate the winner and the Polish finalist. There are no winners and losers in the final. Each of the entrepreneurs who made it this far had to prove they were a true leader, but also a visionary looking not at today, but thinking about the challenges and opportunities waiting around the next bend. This forward thinking is especially important now, when entrepreneurs have been put to an enormous test by the crisis, but also by what seems to be an irreversible change in the way we function. I am convinced that in Poland we have many entrepreneurs unafraid to look to the future, who see their chance for growth in problems. We want to support them not only in their day-to-day business work, which is why the eighteenth Polish edition of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year competition will begin soon. Perhaps among the applicants from Poland there will be a winner of the World Competition." Jacek Kędzior, Managing Partner of EY Poland and the CESA Region
Dr Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is a first-generation entrepreneur. She graduated from a master brewers' school in Australia, earning a master's diploma, and in 1975 returned to her native India. She began working as a master brewer. After two years of unsuccessful attempts to enter the brewing world dominated by men, she founded Biocon Limited. She produced bioenzymes in the garage of a rented house in Bengaluru. A year later Biocon became the first Indian company to export bioenzymes to the USA and Europe.
Today Biocon and its subsidiaries are pioneers in areas that are not of interest to Indian pharmaceutical companies, such as: fermentation-based small molecules, human insulin and its analogs, biosimilars, antibody drugs, new therapies, as well as high-end research services. Biocon has customers in 120 countries and is a global leader in biosimilars, active ingredients for statins, immunosuppressants and other molecules. In 2014 Biocon was the first Indian biotech company listed on the stock exchange and the second to exceed a billion-dollar valuation during its stock market debut. Today its market capitalization is over $4 billion.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw wins EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2020
Biocon is also a leader in facilitating access to cheaper medicines worldwide. In September 2019 the company announced it would provide rh-insulin for less than 10 cents a day (for an average of 40 doses of insulin that patients need each day) in low- and middle-income countries. That is one third of current rh-insulin prices. Over the past 15 years the company has delivered more than 2 billion affordable, biosimilar insulin doses worldwide.
Compassionate capitalism in practice
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw's business and her leadership philosophy focus on compassionate capitalism that fights social inequality. The Biocon Foundation, established in 2004, provides basic healthcare, improves sanitary conditions, and enables early diagnosis and treatment of cancer and non-communicable chronic diseases for marginalized communities. The winner of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2020 competition is also a business angel for many successful healthcare start-ups, especially in fields such as breast cancer screening and affordable warming devices for premature and low-birth-weight newborns.
Legacy and social commitments
The Mazumdar Shaw Center for Translational Research, a charitable research institute founded by Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, seeks breakthrough therapies for treating a wide range of diseases. It has developed several advanced yet affordable methods for cancer diagnostics. In 2016 Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw signed The Giving Pledge [a campaign encouraging the world's wealthiest people to donate part of their fortune to charity] and committed to giving away 75% of her wealth to charitable causes.
About the EY Entrepreneur of the Year competition:
About the EY Entrepreneur of the Year competition
EY Entrepreneur of the Year is the only international initiative of this rank promoting the best entrepreneurs. The competition has been organized worldwide by EY since 1986 and nearly 60 countries take part in it. In Poland, the first edition was held in 2003. Since then the initiative has gathered around the idea of promoting the achievements of Polish entrepreneurs an impressive community. It includes the owners of the best Polish companies and other authorities from the world of business. This group is constantly growing, offering new participants an unparalleled opportunity to build business relationships. More information about the competition: przedsiebiorcaroku.pl/o-konkursie
Summary
Dr Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, founder and chairwoman of Biocon Limited, has been named World Entrepreneur of the Year 2020, beating 46 finalists from 41 countries. It is the third such victory by an Indian in the competition's history and the second by a woman. The company founded in 1978 with $500 in capital today employs over 11,000 people and supplies cheap biosimilar drugs and insulin to 120 countries. In 2014 Biocon, as the first Indian biotech company, debuted on the stock exchange, and its market capitalization now exceeds $4 billion.
Mazumdar-Shaw has committed to giving away 75% of her wealth to charitable causes under The Giving Pledge. Her foundation has supported healthcare for marginalized communities since 2004, and the research institute develops affordable methods for cancer diagnostics.
