Molecule queen: Kiran M Shaw

Published on: Dec 30, 2004, 18:42:00 IST

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Bill Gates and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw have one thing in common. Both of them launched their business from a garage. When She started a little outfit in 1978 to extract an enzyme from papayas in her garage in Bangalore, few in India had ever heard of biotechnology.

Today, she heads the leading biotech firm in India, Biocon, a company that has evolved from a maker of enzymes to a major pharmaceutical enterprise producing everything from insulin to antibodies, with annual revenues of $122 million.

A zoologist turned brewer, Mazumdar-Shaw is also the richest woman in India. When the company went public in March, 2004, its shares were oversubscribed by 33 times on opening day, and it now has a total stock-market value of $1.2 billion.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw represents a new breed of woman entrepreneurs who have made a mark in the male dominated Indian business class. She may be also the first scientist turned business woman in India.

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