Biocon Saga

on Forbes

The daughter of a brewmaster and a stay-at-home mom, Mazumdar-Shaw grew up in a progressive, middle-class family, which encouraged her to pursue an education instead of an arranged marriage. She returned to India in 1975 after getting a B.S. in zoology at the University of Bangalore and an M.S. in brewing from Ballarat College in Australia, expecting to have to fend off job offers. No one would hire her. "It was too rough a job for a woman," she recalls being told.

There will be a flood of money coming in from America, as well. As U.S. drug development costs soar, pharmas are looking to India, where expenses from molecule to market can run 80% less. Partnerships with seven of the largest U.S. and European pharmaceuticals--in drug discovery and clinical trials--now account for 15% of Biocon's top line