As Biocon prepares for a leadership transition beyond founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, the Bengaluru-based biopharmaceutical company says years of investment in biosimilars, insulins and GLP-1 therapies are now beginning to translate into scale, operating leverage and profitability.

Mazumdar-Shaw, who recently announced succession plans naming Claire Mazumdar, her niece, as her successor, said the company has completed the heavy investment cycle needed to build its biosimilars platform and is now positioned to monetise those investments.

“Succession planning is always a very crucial part to ensure that there is good business leadership in terms of continuity of the vision and the strategic intent,” Mazumdar-Shaw told Business Today, adding that she had been grooming Claire for the role for some time. She described her successor as someone capable of “building a company”, “managing risk” and delivering strong stakeholder engagement after successfully building Bicara Therapeutics into a Nasdaq-listed company valued at over $1 billion.

The leadership change comes as Biocon consolidates its businesses into what it calls “one unified global biopharma platform”, following the integration of its biosimilars, generics formulations and APIs businesses. The company says the integration gives it a stronger balance sheet, improved capital allocation and a wider global commercial footprint.

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For Mazumdar-Shaw, the timing is linked closely to the opportunity emerging in biosimilars globally. “There are going to be $300 billion worth of biologics that are going to lose patent protection over the next 10 years,” she said. “To compete in the biosimilars business, you need a pipeline, scale in terms of both R&D and manufacturing, and a very strong commercial engine. Biocon has all of that.”

Mazumdar-Shaw believes Biocon’s early-mover advantage, integrated manufacturing model and commercial scale position it differently from newer entrants relying on outsourcing and in-licensing models. She said Biocon now has a 20-product biosimilars pipeline spanning marketed products, near-launch assets and development-stage candidates.

Biocon’s biologics business remains the company’s biggest growth engine. The biosimilars segment reported revenue of Rs 10,431 crore in FY26, up 16% year-on-year, while EBITDA for the segment rose 40% on an adjusted basis to Rs 2,751 crore. The business now contributes more than 60% of consolidated revenue.

The company said the business benefited from stronger uptake in advanced markets, including the US, alongside recent launches and better operating leverage. Its biosimilars portfolio expanded during the year with launches of Bosaya and Aukelso, the Denosumab biosimilars referencing Prolia and Xgeva in the US market.

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Mazumdar-Shaw said the US market itself has evolved significantly since Biocon first entered the segment. “Biosimilar adoption is getting better. There is greater familiarity and credibility that biosimilars have in the US,” she said, noting that Biocon products are gaining market share across oncology, immunology and insulin therapies.

Insulins and GLP-1 therapies are emerging as another strategic growth area for the company. Biocon has already launched liraglutide in Europe and the US and is preparing for semaglutide launches in emerging markets.

“We would be the only company that has a portfolio of insulins on one side and GLP-1s on the other,” Mazumdar-Shaw said. “We are here not to win a sprint, but to win a marathon.”

The company believes the combination of insulin capabilities and GLP-1 manufacturing integration could create a long-term competitive advantage as obesity and diabetes therapies expand globally. Biocon drew parallels with earlier strategic bets it made in statins and immunosuppressants, where it eventually gained dominant market positions.

Importantly for investors, Biocon says the large capital expenditure cycle is now largely behind it. The company has already expanded manufacturing capacity across biosimilars, insulins, peptides and complex generics. The focus now is on utilisation, margin expansion and return on capital employed.

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“There is no more big-ticket capex to be spent going forward,” Mazumdar-Shaw said. “That provides us the opportunity to really keep increasing plant utilisation and then generate more profitability as a result of that.”

Biocon has also highlighted deleveraging and balance-sheet strengthening as key priorities. Its earnings presentation described FY26 as “a clear inflection point”, marking the shift from integration and investment to “execution and value creation”.

Shreehas Tambe, who took charge as CEO and Managing Director of Biocon from April 1, 2026, said the company is now moving from the “Preserve” phase of its strategy to a “Consolidate” phase focused on sustainable growth.

The generics business, meanwhile, showed improvement driven by generic liraglutide launches in Europe and regulatory approvals in the US and Australia. The company secured US FDA approval for generic liraglutide covering both diabetes and weight-management indications during the quarter.

Biocon’s CRDMO arm, Syngene International, posted modest growth amid weakness from a large biologics client, though the company said the underlying business remained stable. Syngene extended its partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb through 2035 and expanded its antibody-drug conjugate capabilities during the year.

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For FY26, Biocon reported consolidated total income of Rs 17,270 crore, up 14% year-on-year, while operating revenue rose 13% to Rs 16,927 crore after adjusting for one-time generic lenalidomide sales in FY25. EBITDA stood at Rs 3,798 crore with margins improving to 22%, while net profit before exceptional items rose sharply to Rs 436 crore from Rs 103 crore a year earlier on an adjusted basis.