India’s Notable Padma Awardee Biotech Billionaires

The previous articles in this issue have already mentioned about Dr Krishna Ella and Cyrus Poonawalla. This article discusses about other biotech billionares in the sector, though they are only few as compared to Pharma billionaires.

K I Varaprasad Reddy (2005)

Dr. K I Varaprasad Reddy is the Founder and currently, the Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of Shantha Biotechnics Pvt Ltd. An electronics engineer by profession, Dr. Reddy established Shantha Biotech in 1993 with the sole purpose of developing efficacious and cost effective vaccines, within the reach of common man.

Shantha Biotechnics’ successful development of recombinant products heralded the bio-pharma revolution in India which motivated many scientists and entrepreneurs to develop and produce life-saving drugs indigenously. Under his leadership, Shantha Biotechnics won several awards for the company’s contribution in the field of bio-technology. For his efforts in developing an affordable vaccine against Hepatitis B, Dr. Reddy was conferred upon the prestigious National Award – Padma Bhushan – by the Hon’ble President of India. Among his numerous achievements, he also received an Honorary Doctorate from Sri Venkateshwara University. Dr. Reddy is fond of music and literature and has been felicitated by many local literary, cultural organizations and non-resident Telugu associations abroad.

Awards and Felicitations: Padma Bhushan (2005) from Govt. of India Honorary Doctorate from SV University in 2005 Honorary Doctorate from GITAM University in 2011 Best Entrepreneur Award (1999) from Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year For Healthcare and Life Sciences (2000) Lifetime Achievement Award (2008) from Pune Vidyapeeth-Govt. of Maharashtra State Bank of India-Pragna Bharathi Puraskar (2002).

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (2005)

Kiran Mazumdar, (born March 23, 1953, Bangalore, Mysore state (now Bengaluru, Karnataka state), India), Indian businesswoman who, as chairman and managing director (1978– ) of Biocon India Group, led a pioneering enterprise that utilized India’s homegrown scientific talent to make breakthroughs in clinical research.

Ranked among the world’s most influential people in biopharma, she is the only Indian on the list of the world’s self-made women billionaires. A first-generation entrepreneur, Mazumdar-Shaw is the first Indian businesswoman to reach a net worth of USD 1 billion.

She earned an undergraduate degree in zoology from Bangalore University in 1973 and a graduate degree in brewing from the University of Ballarat, Melbourne, in 1975. Upon returning to India, however, she found no companies willing to offer a brewing job to a woman. Instead, she did consulting work for a few years before meeting Leslie Auchincloss, then owner of an Irish firm, Biocon Biochemicals. Impressed by Mazumdar-Shaw’s drive and ambition, Auchincloss took her on as a partner in a new venture, Biocon India, which was launched in 1978 and produced enzymes for alcoholic beverages, paper, and other products.

In 2001 Biocon became the first Indian company to gain the approval of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the manufacture of a cholesterol-lowering molecule. The company subsequently expanded exponentially. The Profits of the company jumped more than 42% in 2003 alone. After a wildly successful initial public stock offering the following year, Biocon’s stock-market value skyrocketed, and Mazumdar-Shaw, with a nearly 40% stake in the company, became the richest woman in India. Over the following years, Biocon continued its trailblazing work, with the testing and development of the world’s first orally consumed insulin product among its most notable undertakings.
Mazumdar-Shaw became the recipient of numerous awards. The World Economic Forum (an international conference for the discussion of world economic, political, and social development) recognized her as a “Technology Pioneer” in 2000, and Ernst & Young named her best entrepreneur in the field of health care and life sciences in 2002. She was honoured as the businesswoman of the year by the Economic Times in 2004. In 2005 Mazumdar-Shaw also received the Padma Bhushan award, one of India’s highest civilian honours, for her pioneering work in industrial biotechnology.
Current Net Worth – $3.7 Billion (USD – 370 Crores), (Rupees – 27.5 Thousand Crores)

Dilip Shanghvi (2016)

Dilip Shanghvi (born 1 October 1955) is an Indian billionaire businessman and one of the country’s richest people. He founded Sun Pharmaceuticals. The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 2016. India Today magazine ranked him 8th in India’s most powerful people of 2017 list.

Sanghavi started by helping his father in his business, which was a wholesale dealership of medicines, mainly generic drugs, in Kolkata. It was during this work that he thought of manufacturing his own drugs instead of selling products made by others.

In 1982, the 27-year-old Sanghavi finally opened his first manufacturing unit with a capital of INR 10,000. He named his venture Sun Pharmaceutical Industries. According to Forbes, as of October 2021, Shanghvi is the 14th richest person in India with a net worth of US$14.3 billion.