Biotech – India’s remedy from global recession
Published 12 June, 2009, 10:40
India has not emerged unscathed from the global crisis, but it is better off than many Western economies. Its success in IT is well-known, but there are other industries that are just as innovative.
Biocon is India’s biggest biotech company. It is a shining example of how India has transformed over the past 15 years. Its chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is the richest woman in India.
In 1979, when she went to a bank with a loan application to set up a new biotechnology company, Kiran was turned down. She was 25 years old and all she had was $200 and a degree in brewing.
“I had huge credibility hurdles to overcome. First of all, I didn’t have a bank balance that gave me the confidence to start a business or, for that matter, for a bank to lend to me,” India’s “Biotech Queen” said.
Twenty five years later, Biocon is worth one billion dollars. In its beginnings it manufactured industrial enzymes. Now it is an integrated biopharmaceutical company.
“We do believe that we, as a company, are capable of developing the world’s most affordable therapies for some of the most debilitating diseases. Diabetes is a huge thrust segment for us,” Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw says.
Biocon is the first company to have successfully commercialized the large-scale manufacture of human insulin. Leveraging India’s low-cost base and scientific talent, Biocon has developed extensive in-house R&D programs. It makes products under its own name and also does contract research for other firms.
Some skepticism remains in the West about the ‘Researched in India’ label, but the industry there hopes that is about to change.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw says she thinks “the day we actually get regulatory approval for these products in the US and Europe will put an end to that kind of skepticism.”
“We also acquired a German company last year, to front-end our insulin business in Germany, and that could be the stepping-stone for Europe,” she said.
What about the other BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia and China? Is there an opportunity to cooperate, or are these countries competing for the same market share, especially in generic drugs?
According to Biocon’s chairwoman, “There is still a kind of hesitance or resistance to really cooperate on the R&D front.”
Nevertheless, she believes that “there is an opportunity tomorrow if and when these countries become innovative, to cooperate, because that would be very synergistic.”
Kiran sees the global slowdown as an opportunity, since Western companies will look to reduce their costs in developing drugs. This could open up new markets, as Biocon’s specialty is delivering high-quality drugs at low cost.
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