Biocon has been an informal breeding ground for birthing innumerable biotech startups in the country
It has added one more feather to its cap by being the nesting ground to churn out new start-ups. It is an informal incubation lab for new spinoffs.
Biocon, without any hesitance, is the most sought after company for careers. It was ranked No 6 on the annual Global "Top Twenty Employers" list for the biopharma sector by Science magazine. Biocon is the only Asian company as per Science to be a part of the Top 20 Elite List which includes leading global innovators.
What is lesser known is the fact that the company has been a playground for entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial spirit.
While BioSpectrum has recognized two of its former top executives, Shrikumar Suryanarayan, who was president R&D, and Ajay Bharadwaj, former president of marketing at Biocon, as BioSpectrum Entrepreneurs of the Year in 2012 and 2013 respectively, for their outstanding performances in their new roles as chairman and co-founder of Sea6 Energy and chief executive officer of Anthem BioSciences, there are almost another two dozen companies that have sprouted.
Many of its former scientists and employees who started with Biocon, have today ventured in to becoming full-fledged entrepreneurs with phenomenal success.
The lessons and invaluable experience gained at Biocon had played tremendously in steering many start-ups and business ventures in India. Some of them were even influenced to move out on their own through the irrefutable inspiration received from Biocon's CMD, Dr Kiran Mazumdar herself.
Dr Arumugam Muruganandam, founder, MD and CSO, Affigenix Biosolutions, pointed out, "In India, against all odds for the past 36 years, Dr Kiran has shown the knowledge, power, and possibilities that biotechnology unlocks. In my opinion, she is a visionary and a great role model for any scientist. Her inspiring speech on how she wants to transform Biocon in to a billion dollar company by 2015 is an unforgettable speech I heard while I was at Biocon."
Dr Muruganandam joined Biocon in 2008, as the head of preclinical development team in the R&D division. "At Biocon, I was fortunate enough to work along with a young dedicated and creative scientific team, who were passionately involved in mastering the craft of drug development towards meeting the common company goal of providing affordable and innovative medicine to the world."
He says that his prior experience at Biocon has helped him personally to rise above many situations and struggles.
"The professional learnings have helped me gain confidence to take risks, and allowed me to venture in to establishing and managing a start-up company," he observes.
Speaking about his wide experience at Biocon, he recalled, "Leading a versatile team, managing multiple projects with objectives in a time-bound manner, implementing risk mitigation strategies, alliance management and multitasking are the learnings I had during my four-year tenure at Biocon."
"In 2009, I was assigned to build and manage a bioanalytical lab and a team for developing immunogenicity and biomarker assays for some novel biologics and biosimilar drugs under development," he said.
In 2012, after a successful and satisfying career at Biocon, Dr Muruganandam voluntarily resigned from Biocon and joined his family business in Chennai.
"In 2013, I joined a private start-up company, Affigenix Biosolutions, as the MD and CSO and established the R&D unit in Bangalore," he said.
At present Affigenix's scientific team is working on several niche products and biosolutions, and provide contract services for biopharma, leather and petroleum industries.
"In the next couple of months we will be filing two patent applications," said Dr Muruganandam.
As a wish, he states, "An autobiography by Dr Kiran Mazumdar will inspire many aspiring entrepreneurs and scientists. My wish is that she should pen it for the benefit of future generations. As Audrey Hepburn once said, 'Nothing is impossible. The word itself says 'I am possible'. Dr Kiran is a fine example of that."
Mr Subramani Ramachandrappa, CMD, Richcore Lifesciences, is another scientist who joined Biocon in 1999 after gradu...
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