Biocon was founded in 1978 with US$10,000 as the initial capital by a
Kiran Mazumdar who was born to
Gujarati parents in
Bangaluru. In 1979, Biocon became the first Indian company to manufacture and export
enzymes to the US and Europe. In 1989,
Unilever acquired Biocon Biochemicals Ltd. in Ireland and merged it with its subsidiary Quest International. Biocon received US funding for proprietary technologies. In 2001, Biocon became the first Indian company to be approved by the
USFDA for the manufacture of
lovastatin; PlaFractor was granted a US 2001 and worldwide patent. In 2003, Biocon became the first company worldwide to develop human insulin on a
pichia expression system. In 2006, BIOMAb EGFR, the first indigenously developed humanised monoclonal antibody for head-and-neck cancer, was launched, and
APJ Abdul Kalam inaugurated India's largest biotech-hub, Biocon Park. In 2008, Biocon acquired a 70% stake in German pharmaceutical company AxiCorp GmbH. During 2009, a Syngene-
Bristol Myers Squibb research facility was established in Bengaluru. Later in 2009,
Mylan announced a strategic collaboration with Biocon to enter the global generic biologics market. In 2010, Biocon expanded to
Malaysia, with a biopharmaceutical manufacturing and R&D facility established in
Iskandar,
Johor. In 2012,
Abbott announced a collaboration with Syngene to open the first nutrition R&D center in India. During 2013, Biocon launched the biologic drug ALZUMAb to treat
psoriasis. During 2014, Biocon launched the first biosimilar drug, CANMAb, to treat
breast cancer. In 2015, Biocon launched a
hepatitis-C drug in India under the brand name CIMIVIR-L. In 2016, Biocon became the first Indian company to launch a
biosimilar insulin glargine pen in Japan. During 2016, Syngene set up an
Amgen R&D center in Bangalore. In 2017, Biocon's Insugen became the first locally manufactured biosimilar product to be approved for sale by the Malaysian drug regulator. In 2017, USFDA approved
Mylan-Biocon's biosimilar for the cancer drug
Herceptin. During 2018, Biocon and Mylan received the European Commission's approval to market the biosimilar insulin glargine. During 2021, 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. ==Corporate governance==