Bangalore, March 21, 2007

Bristol-Myers Squibb and Biocon's Syngene research facility underway

Biocon's wholly owned subsidiary Syngene International Private Limited and global pharma major Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) conducted the ground breaking ceremony of their new research facility at Biocon Park today.

Dr. Francis Cuss, Senior Vice President, Pharmaceutical Research Institute, Bristol Myers Squibb laid the foundation stone. Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman of the Biocon Group and Syngene's Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Goutam Das were also present.

The research facility at Biocon Park is located at Biocon's new facility 'Biocon Park', Bommasandra Industrial Area - Phase IV (approx. 4 kms from Biocon Limited). Spread over approximately 150,000 sq feet, the facility is planned to ultimately house more than 400 scientists to help advance Bristol-Myers Squibb's discovery and early drug development in India. This is expected to significantly increase the scope of Bristol Myers Squibb's existing relationship with Biocon's Syngene to further develop integrated capabilities in medicinal chemistry, biology, drug metabolism and pharmaceutical development.

Biocon, a symbol of the biotech success story of India, has delivered products and solutions in the field of Bio-Pharmaceuticals to customers across the globe.

In a message to Biocon The Honourable Chief Minister of Karnataka Shri HD Kumaraswamy said:

"Karnataka is a pioneering state in Biotechnology in India. Karnataka has also been the front runner in exploring newer and innovative fields. Its pro-industry stance and the world class infrastructure provided by the Government help many industries to grow in leaps and bounds here. The Government would like to reach the benefits of research done in the labs of these companies to reach every nook and corner of the society, where the common man will be benefited. It has glorious examples of bringing the fruits of IT to the doors of commoner and has the distinction of being the first state to bridge the gap between the laboratory and the land.

I am sure, Syngene International would live up to the global expectations of high end services in drug discovery and research.

The credit for the biotech success story in Karnataka goes to Dr Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, whose efforts in biotechnology have drawn global recognition both for industry and for the Biocon group. Under her chairpersonship, Karnataka's Vision Group on Biotechnology, is offering valuable advice and suggestions for taking the biotech sector to greater heights and showing the way ahead to retain the leadership position.

The Government of Karnataka is coming up with a "Bio-tech Park" in Electronics City. The biotech park will have facilities for R and D, Institute for Bio Informatics and Applied Biotechnology, Centre for Human Genetics, state-of-the-art Instrumentation facility and Bio Cluster. Work on the Biotech Park is in progress and the first phase of the facility would hopefully be commissioned during the month of June, 2007.

I take this opportunity of assuring full support of the State Government to the biotech enterprises. We will leave no stone unturned to provide all the facilities in terms of infrastructure and policy issues for ensuring continued growth of the biotech sector in the Karnataka State. Our government is also exploring the possibility of setting up a Bio-IT Park in Bidadi/Ramanagaram corridor, which is the next IT and BT development hub, nearest to Bangalore.

We foresee a bright future for the biotech sector in India and Karnataka would continue to lead. Biotech companies based in Bangalore last year surpassed revenues of Rs.1400 crores, 62 percent of which was in the Bio Pharma sector. I am sure the Biotech companies would do much better this year. The biotech sector has provided solutions in the fields of Pharmaceuticals, agriculture, Clinical Research, Drug discovery, etc., Biocon has given the world its first recombinant human insulin, 'INSUGEN' in November, 2004 and introduced the first indigenously produced monoclonal antibody.

I wish to congratulate Dr Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and her Biocon team for this successful research partnership and setting up the Syngene Research Centre. I wish them all the success in their future endeavours."

Syngene International Private Limited (Syngene) is an internationally reputed Custom Research Company with multi-disciplinary skills in synthetic chemistry and molecular biology. Leveraging the convergence of information technology and biotechnology, Syngene conducts high value R and D in early stage drug discovery and development for a diverse global clientele.

A subsidiary of Biocon, Syngene provides customised R and D services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies on a strong platform of confidentiality and intellectual property protection. With state-of-the-art facilities, dedicated connectivity and highly qualified researchers, Syngene offers its customers a powerful value advantage in the field of outsourced research and development. Syngene was established in 1994.

About Biocon
Established in 1978, Biocon Limited is one of India's premier biotechnology companies. The company has a robust product portfolio of recombinant biotherapeutics, statins and immunosuppresants with strongly growing sales and profits. We employ more than 600 highly qualified scientists at our campus in Bangalore. Biocon and its three subsidiary companies, Syngene International Ltd and Clinigene International Ltd and Biocon Biopharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd form a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company, specializing in custom research, clinical research, biopharmaceuticals and enzymes. With successful initiatives in clinical development, bioprocessing and global marketing, Biocon delivers products and solutions to partners and customers across 50 countries. Many of these products have USFDA and EMEA acceptance. Biocon launched world's first human recombinant human insulin, INSUGEN in November 2004 using Pichia expression.