Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw receives coveted ‘Othmer Gold Medal 2014’ from Chemical Heritage Foundation

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson and Managing Director, Biocon received the ‘Othmer Gold Medal 2014’ in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US. Established by the Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) in 1997, the annual award honours outstanding individuals who have made multifaceted contributions to chemical and scientific heritage through outstanding activity in such areas as innovation, entrepreneurship, research, education, public understanding, legislation or philanthropy. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is the third woman to receive the Othmer Gold Medal and the first Indian to make it to this prestigious group.

Carsten Reinhardt, President and Chief Executive Officer, CHF, handed over the Foundation’s top award to Mazumdar-Shaw during CHF’s Chemical Heritage Day celebration that culminated with the presentation of the Othmer Gold Medal. The CHF lauded Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw’s pioneering efforts in biotechnology and for scripting a hugely successful entrepreneurial story by drawing on her knowledge of fermentation science to build Biocon.

Shaw said, “I am grateful to the CHF for awarding me the Othmer Gold Medal 2014. This is an honour akin to being invited to join an extraordinary league of scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, thought leaders and philanthropists, an emotion that is both proud and humbling at the same time. As an entrepreneur who is driven by a sense of purpose to make a difference to global healthcare, I take pride in saying that Biocon is contributing to affordable innovation which goes to the core of ensuring a global right to healthcare. In this, we seem to be drawing lessons from Donald Othmer’s practical and low-cost approach to innovation.”

EP News Bureau– Mumbai