The story
Founded by Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw in 1978.1
Biocon was formed in 1978 as Biocon India Private Limited, an India-based partner to the existing Irish multinational brewing enzyme producer Biocon Biochemicals Ltd., with US$10,000 as startup capital from Mazumdar-Shaw. The subsidiary initially produced enzymes for the brewing market such as the papaya enzyme papain and the fish collagen extract Iisinglass, a clarifying agent used for some beers and wines. In 1979, Biocon became the first Indian company to manufacture and export enzymes to the US and Europe, and spent the 1980s producing an increasing share of pharmaceuticals for the domestic market.
Unilever
In 1989, Unilever acquired Biocon Biochemicals Ltd. in Ireland and merged it with its subsidiary Quest International. Unilever later sold its holdings to the Indian owners of Biocon Limited in 1998, effectively reuniting the partnered corporations.
Global market
During the 2000s, Biocon established its subsidiary Biocon Biologics and substantially grew its production of existing drugs for the American and European markets. Regulatory bodies such as the American Food and Drug Administration and various European state agencies (later the European Commission) have approved Biocon for production of many such products, starting with lovastatin in 2001. Biocon's production largely focused on generics, which as of 2022 had saved European healthcare systems some €30 billion in drug costs.
In the 2010s, Biocon began rapidly expanding its production and market reach. In 2008, Biocon acquired a 70% stake in German pharmaceutical company AxiCorp GmbH. The following year, Biocon established a partnered research facility in Bengaluru with American pharmaceutical corporation Bristol Myers Squibb, and announced a strategic collaboration with Mylan to enter the global generic biologics market. The following years saw a steady expansion of major Biocon production facilities in Asian nations, including Malaysia in 2010, and in Bangalone in 2016 with partner Amgen.
Novel biopharmaceuticals
Simultaneous to its significant increase in global market share, Biocon began increasing its development of biologics, which are more costly and technologically challenging to produce than small molecule drugs. Notable examples include the monoclonal antibodies (mAb) ALZUMAb for psoriasis in 2013, CANMAb to treat breast cancer in 2014, and the ledipasvir-sofosbuvir combination CIMIVIR-L for hepatitis C in 2015.
Biosimilars
Much of Biocon's current market share includes biosimilars, licensed versions of existing "innovator" products. Biosimilars are eligible for manufacture and sale after the expiration of the original product's patent protection. These are produced under its subsidiary Biocon Biologics. In 2016, it became the first Indian company to launch a biosimilar insulin glargine pen in Japan. In 2017, USFDA approved Mylan-Biocon's biosimilar for the cancer drug Herceptin. In 2018, Biocon and Mylan received the European Commission's approval to market the biosimilar insulin glargine. In 2022 a Biocon subsidiary, Biocon Biologics, bought the biosimilar assets of Viatris for $3.34 billion. In 2021, Biocon and Viatris received approval to launch Semglee, an insulin glargine-yfgn injection, the first interchangble biosimilar for diabetes in the United States. The same year, Biocon Biologics and Serum Institute of India formed a joint agreement to commercialise vaccines, biological drugs, and antibody therapies together. Another aspect of the deal involved Bicocon selling 15% of its biologics subsidiary to the Serum Institute of India, in return for Biocon gaining access to 100 million annual doses of vaccines for a 15-year period. In December 2025, Biocon discontinued its production of the low-cost insulin glargine biosimilar Semglee (insulin glargine-yfgn), causing a significant shortage of basal insulins in the United States as demand moved to other options, in particular Sanofi's Lantus.
Integration of Biocon Biologics
On 6 December 2025, Biocon announced that it would fully integrate its biosimilars subsidiary Biocon Biologics Limited (BBL) as a wholly owned subsidiary, in a corporate action that valued BBL at US$5.5 billion and marked a pivot away from a previously planned initial public offering (IPO) of the biosimilars business. The company said the integration would simplify the group's corporate structure, remove the holding-company discount that had weighed on its valuation, and combine its generics and biosimilars operations into a single listed entity focused on diabetes, oncology and immunology.
Under the plan, Biocon acquired the minority stakes held by Serum Institute Life Sciences, Tata Capital Growth Fund II and Activ Pine LLP through a share swap of 70.28 Biocon shares for every 100 BBL shares, priced at ₹405.78 per Biocon share. It also bought out the residual stake held by Mylan Inc. (Viatris) for US$815 million, comprising US$400 million in cash and US$415 million via a share swap, with the swap ratios based on independent valuations by EY. To fund the cash component payable to Viatris, Biocon raised approximately ₹4,150 crore (about US$460 million) through a qualified institutional placement (QIP) completed on 14 January 2026.
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The integration was completed by 31 March 2026, making Biocon Biologics a wholly owned subsidiary of Biocon Limited and creating a unified entity spanning biosimilars, insulins, generics and peptides. The leadership transition that followed is described under Corporate governance.
From Wikipedia’s article on Biocon, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4