First batch of 30 students of Biocon-KGI Program Graduates from Biocon Academy

Biocon Academy, a Centre for Advanced Learning in Biosciences established by Biocon Ltd, announced that all the students of the first batch have successfully completed the Biocon-KGI Certificate Programme in Biosciences.

The batch of 30 students underwent an intensive 16-week advanced learning program and hands-on professional training in diverse areas like molecular biotechnology, biopharma quality assurance and control, CMC regulations, pharmaceutical development, mammalian cell biotechnology, and professional skills development. The graduation ceremony held at Biocon Park in Bangalore was well attended by families of the students, faculty, industry experts and mentors.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chief Mentor, Biocon Academy & Chairperson and Managing Director, Biocon, expressed her delight at the quality of talent of this batch. She re-iterated her commitment towards developing industry ready, high end talent for the biopharma sector and collectively making the sector globally competitive.

Delivering the Keynote address at the Biocon Academy Certification ceremony, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw- Chief Mentor, Biocon Academy, said: “Biocon Academy is the realization of my dream to enable and energize the younger generation to pursue a career in biotechnology.":

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw Receives Coveted ‘Othmer Gold Medal 2014’ from Chemical Heritage Foundation

Biocon Ltd, Asia's premier biotechnology company, announced today that its Chairperson and Managing Director, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, received the ‘Othmer Gold Medal 2014’ on Thursday, May 15, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Established by the Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) in 1997, the annual award honors outstanding individuals who have made multifaceted contributions to chemical and scientific heritage through outstanding activity in such areas as innovation, entrepreneurship, research, education, public understanding, legislation or philanthropy.

Receiving the Othmer gold medal from Carsten Reinhardt President Chemical Heritage Foundation pic.twitter.com/CKK5jmTyjK
— Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (@kiranshaw) May 16, 2014

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is the third woman to receive the Othmer Gold Medal and the first Indian to make it to this prestigious group. Nineteen people have been conferred with this honor till date, including Arnold O. Beckman, Carl Djerassi, Mary Lowe Good, Harry B. Gray, Jon M. Huntsman, Kazuo Inamori, Robert S. Langer, P. Roy Vagelos, James D. Watson, George Whitesides and Ahmed Zewail.
Carsten Reinhardt, President & CEO, CHF, handed over the Foundation's top award to Ms. Mazumdar-Shaw during CHF’s Chemical Heritage Day celebration that culminated with the presentation of the Othmer Gold Medal.
The CHF lauded Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw’s pioneering efforts in biotechnology and for scripting a hugely successful entrepreneurial story by drawing on her knowledge of fermentation science to build Biocon, India’s first biopharma company.
Accepting the award, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, CMD - Biocon, said, "I am deeply grateful to the Chemical Heritage Foundation for awarding me the Othmer Gold Medal 2014.  This is an honour akin to being invited to join an extraordinary league of scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, thought leaders and philanthropists, an emotion that is both proud and humbling at the same time.
As an entrepreneur who is driven by a sense of purpose to make a difference to global healthcare, I take pride in saying that Biocon is contributing to affordable innovation which goes to the core of ensuring a global right to healthcare. In this, we seem to be drawing lessons from Donald Othmer’s practical and low-cost approach to innovation.”
A pioneer of the biotechnology industry in India, Ms. Mazumdar-Shaw has made her country proud with a globally recognized biopharma enterprise - Biocon. Under her stewardship, Biocon has evolved into India's largest biopharma company committed to innovation and affordability to deliver world class therapeutics to patients across the globe.


About the Othmer Gold Medal:
The medal is presented annually and cosponsored by CHF and four affiliated organizations: the American Chemical Society (ACS), the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), the Chemists' Club, and the Societe de Chimie Industrielle. The medal commemorates Donald Othmer (1904-1995), noted researcher, consultant, editor, engineer, inventor, philanthropist, professor, and coeditor of the Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology.

About the Chemical Heritage Foundation:
The Chemical Heritage Foundation, located in Philadelphia, is a collections-based nonprofit organization that preserves the history and heritage of chemistry, chemical engineering, and related sciences and technologies. The collections are used to create a body of original scholarship that illuminates chemistry's role in shaping society.

Inauguration of SAMS (Strand at Mazumdar-Shaw) cancer diagnostics lab in Bangalore

Inauguration of SAMS (Strand at Mazumdar-Shaw) cancer diagnostics lab - aimed at low cost genomic tests for cancer pic.twitter.com/gJEbcFoRaP
— Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (@kiranshaw) April 21, 2014

CANMAb by Biocon launched in India

Unveiling #CANMAb™ with Shukrit Chimote, Arun Chandavarkar & Abhijit Barve pic.twitter.com/enfb5qbHDx
— Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (@kiranshaw) January 18, 2014

 Note: Biocon has received marketing authorization from the Drugs Controller General (India) (DCGI) for its biosimilar Trastuzumab being developed jointly with Mylan, for the treatment of Her 2+ metastatic breast cancer. The regulatory approval for biosimilar Trastuzumab in India is an important milestone for Biocon as it is the world’s first biosimilar version of Herceptin to be brought to the market. The biosimilar Trastuzumab will be marketed in India under the brand name of CANMAb by Biocon and is expected to be available to Indian patients in Q4 FY14.

ISB introduces a new Business Analytics programme in collaboration with Biocon

The Indian School of Business (ISB), with campuses in Hyderabad and Mohali, launched its first ‘hybrid’ model executive education programme – ISB Biocon Certificate Programme in Business Analytics (CBA) - with the aim of creating the next generation of data management scientists. Supporting the ISB in this endeavour is Biocon Foundation which has extended full funding support towards developing and nurturing this programme.

Conceptualized and developed by ISB, CBA has inputs from some of the best minds from global academia, and business leaders from companies such as BA Continuum India (Bank of America), Cognizant Technology Solutions, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, MuSigma, Shoppers Stop, Everyday Health Inc and Tech Mahindra.

Announcing the launch of CBA, Deepak Chandra, Deputy Dean, ISB said, “There is an explosion in the data being generated in practically every sphere of business. With greater adoption of digital technologies, this is bound to grow exponentially. However, there is a dearth of available talent to help organizations make sense of this data deluge. Responding to this need, the ISB has introduced the ISB Biocon Certificate Programme in Business Analytics to help create professionals who can help their organisations derive value with the power of analytics. I am thankful to Biocon Foundation for supporting our efforts.”

Commenting on this development, Ms Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, promoter Biocon Foundation, said: “I think this course will develop high quality Business Analytics, which will be a great value add to the industry. Biocon Foundation is pleased to offer financial support to ISB for this course as it furthers Foundation’s focus on improving the quality of Education. I believe this course will address some of the growing needs of the industry across sectors.”


CBA addresses the learning needs of both, professionals already working in the area of analytics, as well as for those who aim to initiate a career in this growing field. The course provides participants with the required academic rigour combined with practical relevance to give them a competitive edge. The courses and the final project are designed around the real-world integration of business disciplines.

Programme Highlights
·         One-year, part-time programme with 430 contact hours

·         Hybrid format with 66 % of the learning is classroom based and 34 % is technology-assisted

·         Capstone projects  to help participants to apply their learning at their respective workplace simultaneously as they learn, that will benefit both the participant and the organisation

·         Faculty from India and abroad

·         Special module on Business Analysis & Predictive modeling by SAS.


During the course, participants will be required to stay on campus for a 5-day schedule of classroom learning every alternate month for a span of 12 months. The schedule will include classroom learning, apart from guest industry speakers, workshops and group projects. The rest of the programme will be delivered online.

Inaugural Class Profile
The programme has already generated significant interest in the market with the school receiving about a thousand  applications from around the country. The first class comprising 104 students commenced on September 14, 2013 at the ISB’s Hyderabad campus. Here is a snapshot of the class:
·         Industries represented (indicative) - IT, Healthcare and Pharma, Finance, Manufacturing, Telecom, Defence, etc.

·         Companies represented (indicative) - Accenture, Merck, Dr Reddy Labs, Amazon, Cognizant, ICICI Bank, Mckinsey, Microsoft, TCS, Tata Motors, Tech Mahindra, Vodafone, etc.

·         Average age - 31 years

·         Women participants - 15 %

About ISB
The Indian School of Business (ISB) is a global Business school offering world-class management education across its two campuses – Hyderabad and Mohali. The School has grown at a rapid pace over the twelve years since its inception and already has several notable accomplishments to its credit – it is the youngest school ever to consistently rank among the top Global MBA programmes, the first institution in South Asia to receive the prestigious AACSB accreditation, one of the largest providers of Executive Education in Asia, and the most research productive Indian management institution. A vibrant pool of research-oriented resident faculty, strong academic associations with leading global B-schools and the backing of an influential Board, have helped the ISB fast emerge as a premier global Business school in the emerging markets.  For more details visit www.isb.edu