Krishna Ella, the founder of Bharat Biotech, which gave Covaxin, country’s first successful indigenous vaccine, showing an interim efficacy of 81 percent, to India, is a son of farmer whose entrepreneurial journey has seen a successful track record of developing vaccines in India for the world.
Krishna Ella, the founder of Bharat Biotech, comes from a small village
Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, after showing an interim efficacy of 81 percent, is very much in demand. Let’s find out details about its founder, whose entrepreneurial journey has witnessed a successful track record of developing vaccines. Coming from a small village and born to a family of farmers, the man has kept his vision straight and here comes a details of his inspiring story:
* A village boy: Ella comes from a village in Tamil Nadu and was born to a middle-income family of farmers in a village near Thiruthani
* He came from farmers family: There were no businessmen, entrepreneurs or professionals in his family but only farmers.
* He studied agriculture to become a farmer: After his schooling, he decided to study agriculture at Bengaluru’s University of Agricultural Sciences, however, his father did not approve of it as he believed that nobody became a farmer simply by studying agriculture. However, Ekka got interested in the subject and wanted to be a farmer.
* He worked in Bayer to earn money: Next, in order to provide financial support to his family, Ella worked in the agriculture division of Bayer, a pharmaceutical and crop science company.
* Fellowship changed his fortunes: During this tenure, he received a fellowship from Rotary International to pursue higher education in the US.
* How he chose molecular biology: This time, he chose molecular biology, and there was no looking back.
* Finally, he returned to India: After working as a researcher at the Medical University of South Carolina in the US, Ella came back to India, wanting to do something on his own, and ready to take risks.
* He opened his laboratory: He started with a small lab in Hyderabad to develop a Hepatitis vaccine with a yeast molecular gene in 1995 which turned into Bharat Biotech a year later.
* The first company in Hyderabad’s biotechnology park: In fact, this was the first company to be set up in Hyderabad’s biotechnology park, Genome Valley.
* And then Bharat Biotech was founded: Ella co-founded Bharat Biotech with wife Suchitra, who brought to the company her expertise in marketing, business development and operations. An economics graduate from the University of Madras, Suchitra studied business development in the US before earning a postgraduate diploma in patent law from NALSAR,
Today, Ella is a renowned scientist who knows how to take responsibility for his risks and his business decisions, and as a person, has always been encouraging those around him to nurture bigger aspirations.