Bangalore September 29, 2009

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, CMD, Biocon Ltd, India's leading biotechnology major, has been included in the prestigious 'Top 50 women in business' listing by Financial Times, London. The report, compiled in collaboration with recruitment group Egon Zehnder International, celebrates women business leaders around the world and this year's list features three Indians.

FT used a range of factors to assess the candidates including biographical information, data on the size of the company (turnover and number of employees), its scope and complexity (operations in multiple countries or sectors) and the competitive landscape. Total shareholder return was also used to gauge corporate performance. This varied according to the country, sector and characteristics of the company. Women running companies with a multinational reach were likely to rank more highly than those in charge of nationally focused groups.

The number of women business leaders around the world remains miniscule. Just 3 per cent of Fortune 500 chief executives are women. Across Europe, only 10 per cent of board directors of the largest companies are female (quotas have made Norway the exception, with more than 40 per cent) and the numbers are even lower in Asia. There is substantial evidence that better gender balance has a positive impact on performance. Studies by Catalyst and McKinsey in the US and Europe have found a correlation between the number of women in a company’s leadership and the company’s profitability.

About Biocon Limited
Established in 1978, Biocon Limited is one of India's premier biotechnology companies. Together with its group companies. Biocon forms a fully integrated biotechnology enterprise, specializing in biopharmaceuticals, custom research and clinical research which deliver products and solutions to partners and customers across the globe. Biocon launched the world's first recombinant human insulin, INSUGEN in November 2004 using Pichia expression and India's first indigenously produced monoclonal antibody BIOMAb-EGFRTM.

A leading US trade publication, Med Ad News, in its 2007/08 listings has ranked Biocon 20th amongst the leading biotechnology companies in the world and the 7th largest Biotech employer in the world. Biocon recently received the 2009 BioSingapore Asia Pacific Biotechnology Award for Best Listed Company.

Focusing on unmet medical needs in cancer, diabetes and inflammatory diseases, Biocon offers novel therapies on a platform of affordable innovation. Biocon’s strategic licensing partnerships provide market penetration and global access to deliver breakthrough therapeutics to millions of patients the world over.