The dynamic duo of Bharat Biotech Chairman Krishna Ella and Joint Managing Director Suchitra Ella – the people behind the Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin — will be conferred with the Padma Bhushan award.
Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech has a track record of innovation with more than 145 global patents, a wide product portfolio of more than 16 vaccines, 4 bio-therapeutics, registrations in more than 123 countries, and the World Health Organization (WHO) Pre-qualifications.
It was in 1995-96 that Suchitra Ella proposed the idea of returning to India to pursue the dream of entrepreneurship to her husband Dr. Krishna Ella. Both of them quit their promising careers in the US to relocate along with their two young children. Dr. Krishna Ella, a graduate from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, moved to the US for his MS from the University of Hawaii and Ph.D., from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, before taking a faculty position at the Medical University of South Carolina-Charleston.
Driven by a vision to develop innovative remedies for developing world healthcare challenges, Dr. Ella returned to India with his wife Suchitra in 1996 to establish Bharat Biotech International Limited, a company that has delivered over 4 billion vaccine doses to the poorest and most underserved in over 116 developing countries through UNICEF, GAVI and other distribution channels.
Suchitra K. Ella, Co-Founder & Joint Managing Director – BBIL’s work experience spans more than three decades, including her more than 10 years in US companies. As a young student, Suchitra graduated with distinction from the University of Madras in economics and philosophy. Moving to the US in 1986 along with her husband Dr. Krishna Ella, she pursued her interest in marketing and business - working full time and studying part time at UWCU Madison, WI. She further completed a post graduate diploma in Patent Law from NALSAR Hyderabad.
As the Joint Managing Director of Bharat Biotech, her vision and hard work, leadership and organisational capabilities have helped in fostering a sustainable growth path for the company. Her divergent thinking with a new outlook has helped in shaping the challenging yet path breaking efforts of Bharat Biotech.
Besides her work at Bharat Biotech, Suchitra Ella essays multiple roles in various professional and non-profit organisations.