Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

Executive Chairperson, Biocon

Biocon's GLP-1 Bet: Kiran Mazumdar Shaw Reveals Biocon's Next Big Growth Story

📅 Jul 13, 2026 NDTV Profit 11 MIN 4587 VIEWS 99 SEGMENTS · 3 SPEAKERS

Can Biocon achieve its long-term growth ambitions? In this exclusive conversation, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw discusses Biocon's roadmap, including its GLP-1 opportunity, insulin business, and more. Watch the full interview to understand the company's next phase of growth and the key milestones management is focused on. #Biocon #KiranMazumdarShaw #GLP1 #Pharma #Healthcare #IndianPharma #Biotech #StockMarket #ShareMarket #Investing #Syngene #Diabetes #Insulin #BusinessNews #Markets For more videos subscribe to our channel: / @ndtvprofitindia Visit NDTV Profit for more news: https://www.ndtvpro...

What Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said

Written from the verified transcript and checked against it. Every figure links to the moment it was said.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said Biocon has what it takes to become a $20 billion market cap company, expecting to double the business over the next five fiscals. She highlighted a differentiated portfolio combining biosimilars, insulins, GLP-1s, and cancer drugs, plus Syngene's CDMO focus. She said debt reduction has already started, with capex behind and free cash flow expected from this fiscal. On GLP-1s, she cited liraglutide presence in the US and Europe, end-to-end manufacturing without Chinese key starting materials, and recombinant DNA technology as advantages. She pushed back on insulin being low margin, saying doubled manufacturing could double the $300 million business, with a predictable path to $1 billion. She said Syngene lost its way by not focusing on CDMO, and expects green shoots by end of this fiscal and a strong turnaround next fiscal.

Key takeaways

Biocon expects to double its business over the next five fiscals, targeting a $20 billion market cap.
Insulin business, currently over $300 million, is expected to reach $1 billion, aided by recently doubled manufacturing capacity.
Syngene will see green shoots by end of this fiscal and a strong turnaround next fiscal, focused on CDMO and biomanufacturing.
Biocon's GLP-1 advantage includes end-to-end manufacturing without Chinese key starting materials and recombinant DNA technology.

Numbers and commitments

Figure	What it refers to	Type	At
$20 billion	target market cap for Biocon	commitment	0:37
300 million	current insulin business size	metric	6:43
1 billion dollars	target for insulin business	commitment	7:18

Chapters

0:00Path to $20 billion market cap
2:48Debt reduction and free cash flow
3:44GLP-1 global opportunity
6:28Insulin business scaling to $1 billion
8:56Syngene turnaround plan

Questions asked in this interview

0:37When we talk about Biocon, what is required to now make it a $20 billion company?
2:48What is the timeline that we are looking at in terms of debt reduction?
3:44What's in store and what is the outlook towards that even globally?
5:26But, how do you read benefits of when it comes to the commercial aspect even at a greater pace?
6:43So putting both these aspects together, how do you see the 300 million plus business now that you've created scaling up to 1 billion dollars?
8:56The revival plan for that, and what are the key factors which will really revive this particular business which has been struggling with many challenges?
10:00Think the management needs to be bolstered?

Host 0:00 ↗

Biocon in focus of course, as it embarks a new journey of reaping returns on past years of investments. And founder and executive chairperson at Biocon, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, says that the global presence will help in bolstering all segments of the business, particularly GLP-1. Here's an exclusive conversation that she had with my colleague, Nisha Poddar.

Nisha Poddar 0:37 ↗

So, Kiran, there is a roadmap that the market also expects to know. The world, as well as the pharma industry, also is looking at. When we talk about Biocon, what is required to now make it a $20 billion company?

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw 0:54 ↗

You mean market cap?

Nisha Poddar 0:55 ↗

Yes.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw 0:56 ↗

So, I think we have all that it takes to get there.

Nisha Poddar 1:00 ↗

Mhm.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw 1:00 ↗

First and foremost, we are now on a high-growth trajectory.

Nisha Poddar 1:04 ↗

Yes.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw 1:05 ↗

We expect to double our business over the next five fiscals.

Nisha Poddar 1:08 ↗

Yes.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw 1:09 ↗

We believe that we have a very, very well-differentiated portfolio of products because, as you just rightly said, we are the only biosimilars company out of India.

Nisha Poddar 1:21 ↗

Yes.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw 1:21 ↗

But in that, we also have the very unique combination of insulins and GLP-1s.

Nisha Poddar 1:31 ↗

Yes.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw 1:31 ↗

Of the cancer drugs, both generics and biosimilars.

Nisha Poddar 1:36 ↗

Mhm.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw 1:36 ↗

And of course, we have many new launches

Nisha Poddar 1:39 ↗

Mhm.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw 1:40 ↗

Waiting to happen.

Nisha Poddar 1:41 ↗

Yes.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw 1:41 ↗

And many new products under development in both generics and biosimilars.

Nisha Poddar 1:47 ↗

Mhm.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw 1:47 ↗

And then of course, when you talk about Syngene, I think we are really doubling down on the CDMO business.

Nisha Poddar 1:53 ↗

Yes.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw 1:54 ↗

So, I think we have high-growth opportunities in every one of our businesses.

Nisha Poddar 1:59 ↗

Mhm. And now, of course, I don't even want to talk about generics and biosimilars as a separate business. This is a combined business. So, if you look at it, it's a products and services company which both have got very exciting growth opportunities. So, the way I look at it is that our EBITDA is growing. Our profitability is growing because, you know, we've retired a lot of these structured debt. We raised almost a billion dollars through our two QIPs. And that has actually taken away the overhang of the huge interest provisioning that used to go on. And the overhang of the debt that was payable at any given point in time.

So, finance charges, yes, reduction of that, but what the expectation is also that you are in a phase of deleveraging momentum. What is your road map and vision towards that? What is the timeline that we are looking at in terms of debt reduction?

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw 3:04 ↗

I think debt reduction has already started, Nisha. So, it's not like we have to wait for anything to happen. The beauty of our business, you know, inflection point right now is the fact that CAPEX is behind us. Right? R&D spends are reduced because of the new regulatory pathways. And of course, the deleveraging that has already happened. Okay? And we continue to retire debt every quarter. But, I think that actually now makes for a very profitable business, a growing EBITDA, and obviously free cash flow is going to start showing up from this fiscal.

Nisha Poddar 3:44 ↗

All right. When we talk about the GLP-1 opportunity, Kiran, everybody in the pharma space is now really looking at that particular pie and a share in that pie. What's your vision? Of course, your company has been at the top of the line when it comes to GLP-1 opportunity. What's in store and what is the outlook towards that even globally? That's a big opportunity for Biocon coming in for GLP-1.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw 4:15 ↗

So, for us GLP-1s have always been about a global opportunity.

Nisha Poddar 4:20 ↗

Yes.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw 4:21 ↗

And I think we already have the foot in the door because we have a liraglutide which is both in the US and in Europe.

Nisha Poddar 4:30 ↗

Mhm.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw 4:30 ↗

And a very interesting aspect of even liraglutide

Nisha Poddar 4:35 ↗

Yes.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw 4:35 ↗

Fact that the other competitors who were in the US

Nisha Poddar 4:40 ↗

Mhm.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw 4:40 ↗

Have indicated certain manufacturing difficulties.

Nisha Poddar 4:45 ↗

Yes.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw 4:46 ↗

Okay, so I think Biocon's capability in peptides and insulins

Nisha Poddar 4:50 ↗

Mhm.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw 4:51 ↗

Have made them very, very strong when it comes to GLP-1s as well.

Nisha Poddar 4:56 ↗

Yes.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw 4:57 ↗

Okay. And I think that we see ourselves as a fully end-to-end company

Nisha Poddar 5:03 ↗

Mhm.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw 5:03 ↗

Manufacturing GLP-1s. Many of our competitors rely very much on key starting materials from China.

Nisha Poddar 5:11 ↗

Yes.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw 5:11 ↗

We don't.

Nisha Poddar 5:12 ↗

Yes.

49 more exchanges in this transcript

Cite this transcript

APA, MLA, BibTeX

APA

Mazumdar-Shaw, K. (2026, July 13). Biocon's GLP-1 Bet: Kiran Mazumdar Shaw Reveals Biocon's Next Big Growth Story [Interview transcript]. NDTV Profit. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1085458/

MLA

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw. "Biocon's GLP-1 Bet: Kiran Mazumdar Shaw Reveals Biocon's Next Big Growth Story." NDTV Profit, 13 Jul. 2026. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1085458/.

BibTeX

@misc{mazumdarshaw2026_1085458,
  author       = {Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw},
  title        = {Biocon's GLP-1 Bet: Kiran Mazumdar Shaw Reveals Biocon's Next Big Growth Story},
  howpublished = {Interview transcript, NDTV Profit. CEOInterviews.AI},
  year         = {2026},
  month        = {jul},
  url          = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1085458/},
  note         = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}

▶

Key Quotes (2)

“We expect to double our business over the next five fiscals. Uh we believe that we have a very, very uh well-differentiated portfolio of products because as you just rightly said, we are the only biosimilars company out of India. But in that, we also have you know, the uh very unique combination of insulins and GLP-1s. Of the cancer drugs, both generics and biosimilars. And of course, we have many”

▶ 1:05 POLICY

“So, for us GLP-1s have always been about a global opportunity. And I think we already have the foot in the door because we have a liraglutide which is both which are which is both in the US and in Europe. And a very interesting aspect of even liraglutide fact that the other competitors who were in the US have indicated certain uh you know, manufacturing difficulties. Okay, so I think Biocon's capa”

▶ 4:15 POLICY

Mentioned in this interview

Syngene: Biocon's subsidiary; lost its way by not focusing on CDMO, now doubling down with new leadership.

liraglutide: GLP-1 product already in the US and Europe, with competitors facing manufacturing difficulties.

Earlier, on the same topics

“The recent announcement that we made of the intended merger between BBL and Biocon is indeed a big announcement because I believe that this actually unlocks and creates the value that we have been witnessing in terms of our biosimilars business and as well as the GLP1 opportunity ahead. By combining”

biosimilars · Dec 23, 2025 at 0:53 →

“Guidance but outlook is that we are very bullish on the business. We have many new product launches. The business is looking good in every segment whether it is biosimilars which is looking very strong. Generics is looking that it's on a recovery path and Syngene is also looking like it's on a path ”

biosimilars · May 08, 2026 at 9:42 →

“Biosimilars have now become the new bullseye of growth, of opportunity. And I think from India, we're certainly leading the way. Biosimilars like generics are also helping healthcare systems around the world save billions of dollars. Since 2016, biosimilars have actually helped healthcare systems ju”

biosimilars · Jun 17, 2026 at 1:27 →

“I expect the new team to really double down on growth, on technology led growth. I think AI is going to drive our R&D and manufacturing in a much bigger way. And I expect the team to really focus on profitable growth with increasing margins and of course with increasing market share.”

May 08, 2026 at 13:12 →

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About Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Executive Chairperson of Biocon, appeared at the 2026 Bloomberg New Economy Forum in New Delhi, where she discussed India's transition from generic medicines to innovative drug development. She noted that the Indian government has announced initiatives such as the RDI, BioShakti, and PRIP schemes to provide early-stage, seed, and risk capital for drug innovation, but said the next challenge is attracting follow-on venture capital, which she attributed to a lack of faster exit strategies for investors. She also said that innovative companies and products are currently undervalued in India, and that the entire ecosystem and fundamentals of drug innovation need to be adjusted for the country to succeed. Regarding the U.S. market, she said it remains attractive for pharmaceutical companies and described the relationship as an opportunity for a strategic India-U.S. partnership, citing rising U.S. healthcare costs and the role of generics and biosimilars in containing them. In other appearances, Mazumdar-Shaw spoke about the role of artificial intelligence in accelerating drug innovation, saying that AI can shorten timelines from lab to market but that the more expensive part of drug development, clinical trials, remains a challenge. She said the end goal of AI should be to drive affordability and that regulators have accepted that safety comes first, but AI could be used to predict safety and efficacy. At an MIT Future Fest event, she discussed her career trajectory, including her early experience as India's first qualified woman brewmaster and her subsequent founding of Biocon, and described her mission as making life-saving and essential medicines accessible to patients worldwide. She also participated in a conversation on overcoming workplace rejection, where she recounted facing gender bias early in her career and credited her father's support as a key factor in her resilience.

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