Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw says Biocon succession is in place, bets on India’s biopharma boom

Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said the company has put in place a long-term succession plan and is positioning itself to benefit from what she believes will be a defining decade for India’s biopharma industry.Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Mazumdar-Shaw said she decided to identify a successor after turning 70, adding that planning early would ensure continuity and preserve Biocon’s culture and long-term vision.

“I said, ‘Oh my God, I’d better think about who comes after me,'” she said, explaining that the decision was driven by long-term planning rather than an immediate retirement.
Mazumdar-Shaw said Claire Mazumdar, whom she has identified as her successor, earned the role after proving herself as an entrepreneur rather than relying on academic credentials alone.”I said, a CV is not enough. Let me see how you build a company… That’s why I told her to earn her stripes, and she’s earned them,” she said.

She added that Claire will spend several years working alongside her to understand Biocon’s business, culture and long-term strategy before eventually taking over leadership.

While discussing the road ahead, Mazumdar-Shaw said she sees significant growth opportunities not just for Biocon but for India’s broader biotechnology sector.
“The country cannot have just one Biocon. It must have many more companies that build a strong biopharma ecosystem,” she said, adding that government policy has created a major opportunity for the pharmaceutical industry to expand into biopharma.She said she expects India to build a much stronger biopharma ecosystem over the next five to ten years and expressed hope that the transformation could happen even sooner.

“I’m very confident that this will happen over the next five to ten years. I hope it happens within five years,” she said.

Calling for greater risk-taking, Mazumdar-Shaw said India must invest aggressively in emerging technologies if it wants to remain globally competitive.

“We have so much potential. We have so much talent. New technologies are emerging, and we must be at the forefront of those technologies… We must have a much greater appetite for risk,” she said.

Reflecting on Biocon’s journey from a small startup in Bengaluru to a global biopharmaceutical company, Mazumdar-Shaw said the early years were marked by credibility challenges, with many questioning both biotechnology as a business and her ability to lead it.

“No one understood what I was trying to do in the beginning… ‘Biotech? What the hell is biotech?'” she recalled.

She said those experiences reinforced the importance of perseverance and confidence, particularly for women entrepreneurs.

“I don’t give up because I know someone, somewhere, will say yes,” she said, encouraging young women to pursue their ambitions despite setbacks.