Assertion Contradicted
Mazumdar-Shaw: Vijay Mallya has paid back everything he owed
“Well, he's paid back everything he owed. So I don't understand why he's still being targeted.”
Opinion
Mazumdar-Shaw: Biocon was the first startup in India
“Of course, a few years later, I was very lucky that I was able to get the brightest minds to join me, and I therefore consider myself really the first startup in the country.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Mazumdar-Shaw: Entering biosimilars now would severely hurt Indian pharma earnings
“If any Indian pharmaceutical company wants to now venture into biosimilars, like I have done, it will, you know, have a huge impact on their EBITDA and their earnings, which I don't think anyone wants to do at this point in time.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Mazumdar-Shaw: Regulations will permit CRISPR for genetic defects, not designer babies
“So I think they will allow you to use CRISPR technologies like they use gene therapies today. To basically correct genetic deficiencies, but not to choose the kind of baby you want, you know, like saying that, okay, I want my eyes, the eyes to be of this color…”
Insight
Mazumdar-Shaw: Going public creates valuation currency essential for scaling
“I believe that as you grow your company, you need you need a capital value for a kind of a currency that you use to grow your company with. So if you create a valuation for your company, you can use that as a very, very powerful currency to do many more things…”
Insight
Mazumdar-Shaw: People without children tend to be more philanthropic
“When you don't have kids, you tend to Be more philanthropic.”
Opinion
Mazumdar-Shaw: The Modi government's stable economic policies appeal globally
“Now, obviously, the Modi government has done extremely well. It's been around for a long time, and they've basically made sure that economic policies are very stable, and that really appeals to the outside world, whether it's investors, whether it's other gove…”
Disclosure
Mazumdar-Shaw: Biocon ties executive goals to reaching 30% women on shop floors
“When I look at my shop floor, there are only about 10% women on the shop floor. I'm now deliberately trying to force That ratio to increase to at least 30%. And I think it's beginning to happen. And that's because I've put it as a KRA for my leadership team sa…”
Insight
Mazumdar-Shaw: Divest legacy businesses if someone else can grow them bigger
“Don't be wedded to a historic business. If that business can be monetized, and if someone else can make a bigger business of that business, divest it.”
Assertion Contradicted
Mazumdar-Shaw: Biocon is the only Indian firm with biosimilars in US and Europe
“Therefore, if you look at in, in India, we are the only company that has managed to develop biosimilars for global markets. No other Indian company has been able to take their products to the US. Or Europe.”
Prediction Held up
Mazumdar-Shaw: CRISPR gene-editing stocks will recover and yield strong returns
“No, but it will recover because now is the time. CRISPR is going to, you know, suddenly come away.”
What-if
Mazumdar-Shaw: Vijay Mallya would still be successful if he stuck to beer
“I think if he had stuck to beer, he would still be a very successful businessman.”
Insight
Mazumdar-Shaw: Entrepreneurs must recognize failure early and pull the plug
“And in my view, I think it's about not being in denial. And to recognize failure when you start seeing warning signs. I think all of us procrastinate the decision to pull the plug.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Mazumdar-Shaw: Indian breweries refused to hire female brewmasters in late 1970s
“Whilst breweries were very willing to help me, to ask me to come and help them fix their problems, do troubleshooting, which I did. I even commissioned a brewery in Calcutta. But when it came to giving me a job, I think no one wanted to risk that. They all sai…”
Insight
Mazumdar-Shaw: Enzyme tech is cheaper than chemicals factoring in effluent treatment
“And I would say, because actually it's not two X, you're actually spending much less than even the chemical technology, because you actually need to process the effluent you are You know, throwing out because of the chemical process. Right now, you don't do ef…”
Insight
Mazumdar-Shaw: Founders should retain maximum equity to protect strategic control
“So whilst you share equity, I think you must continue to see whether you can hold the maximum equity share in your company as long as you can to make sure you drive it in the direction that you think it ought to be driven into.”
Insight
Mazumdar-Shaw: Founders must remain agnostic to what their platform technology produces
“You should be agnostic To what a technology is producing, but to see whether the technology can do something else. And so even though I had developed enzyme technologies based on biotechnology, you have to be agnostic to what those platform technologies can do…”
Assertion Partly supported
Mazumdar-Shaw: Biocon holds 50% of the global statin API market
“Today we are the largest producer of the statin APIs around the world. We have a 50% market share of statin APIs, and if we look at our share in the US market again, a 40% market share in Ottorvastatin and Rosuvastatin in the US.”
Assertion Partly supported
Mazumdar-Shaw: Biocon launched India's first recombinant insulin in 2004
“So in 2004, I launched India's first recombinant human insulin, and I brought the prices crashing down so much so that I forced the innovator brands to also come down to my pricing. And so now of course nobody uses animal insulin. So I was able to bring the pr…”
Insight
Mazumdar-Shaw: Philanthropy requires substantial capital over fragmented donations for impact
“Philanthropy should not be making small fragmented investments, which may not have the kind of impact you can have by making large substantial investments.”
Opinion
Mazumdar-Shaw: Bangalore's infrastructure lags behind its intellectual potential
“We have infrastructure that doesn't match the intellectual potential of this city.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Mazumdar-Shaw: Pharma sales and marketing in India is 90% men
“Sales and marketing in pharmaceuticals. That is like, 90% men, which I find really not acceptable.”
Assertion Supported
Mazumdar-Shaw: Bangalore hosts more life science startups than any Indian city
“In fact, Bangalore is home to the largest number of life science startups in the country, you'll be interested to, unlike Hyderabad.”
Disclosure
Mazumdar-Shaw: Biocon spun off oncology startup Bicara Therapeutics to Boston
“I myself spun off a company from Biocon called Baikara you know, which I took to Boston, and today that's the most, the hottest biotech startup in, in that onco field.”
