KGI Designs a New Program in Bioscience Management with Biocon

June 8, 2016

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, the CMD, of Asia’s leading fully integrated biopharmaceutical company, Biocon, visited Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) in Claremont, California recently to commemorate the KGI Biocon Partnership. She met with KGI faculty, staff, and students, discussed the progress of Biocon Academy’s flagship program, the KGI Biocon Certificate Program in Applied Biosciences, and marked the completion of KGI and Biocon Academy’s program in Bioscience Management for working professionals in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

The KGI Biocon formal partnership began in January 2014 with the launch of Biocon Academy, a Center of Excellence for Advanced Learning in Applied Biosciences. Biocon Academy is driven by a mission to develop high-end talent to create a globally competitive biotech ecosystem in India. In this partnership, Biocon Academy leverages the strong academic and technical expertise of its international education partner, KGI in California, USA, along with the industrial heritage of Biocon Limited. The KGI Biocon partnership has successfully trained students to meet the needs of the rapidly growing bioscience industry in India and also globally.

Biocon Academy’s flagship program, the KGI Biocon Certificate Program in Applied Biosciences, has grown to become an online, international program that has proven to be a valuable tool for recent graduates in the field of biotechnology. In the ongoing academic cycle, Biocon Academy will have employees from Biocon’s production facility in Johor, Malaysia participating. These participating employees will log in remotely from Malaysia, making this a true cross-cultural, multi-national program.

KGI and Biocon Academy developed another program, the KGI Biocon Certificate Program in Bioscience Management for entry-level managers from functions such as R&D, regulatory affairs, quality control, and production. The primary objective of this program is to provide a pool of talented, high potential professionals with best-in-class knowledge and skills to prepare them for future leadership roles.

Meghana Joshi, PhD, KGI Biocon program director, and Steve Casper, PhD, KGI’s dean of the School of Applied Life Sciences, are co-developing and restructuring this program with support from Amitava Saha, Biocon’s senior vice president and head of human resources.

Speaking about the new program Joshi said: “We are keen to collaborate with Biocon again on developing another bioscience management program suitable for young professionals in the biopharmaceutical industry. This program will include courses that will teach strategy, industry dynamics and market segments, operations management and sales and marketing specific to the bioscience industry.”

The newly designed program will consist of multiple certificate courses in bioscience management, which will serve as building blocks towards a master’s degree in bioscience management. Industry professionals will have various course options and the flexibility to complete the master’s degree requirements at their own pace. This management program is primarily aimed at building business acumen to attain leadership excellence.