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Box 2: Story of Dr Krishna Ella, founder of Bharat Biotech International Ltd. As students we sometimes ask our teachers or ourselves “Why am I learning this? Will I even use it in real life?”. Well, if your life goals are similar to those of Dr. Krishna M.Ella,that is, to create massive positive changes through scientific innovation,then you just might. Dr. Ella is the Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL), which he co-founded with his wife in 1996 in Hyderabad, Telangana. A person hailing from a rural background and born in a village Nemili in Tamil Nadu, started his early education from the same village, had his share of ups and downs to achieve the feat what he is today. He completed his higher schooling and intermediate course in Life Sciences from Madras followed by completing his higher degrees in Agriculture from Maharashtra and later from Karnataka. In order to gain marketing experience, he worked with the Agricultural Division of a Pharmaceutical company in India as well. He also pursued Masters in Science (specialisation in Plant Pathology) at the University of Hawaii and doctoral programme at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, after getting a scholarship. Followed by his Ph. D. in 1993, Dr. Ella joined the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, where he made a shift from Plant Pathology to human and yeast molecular biology. While conducting regular research, he started thinking of innovative ideas for the development and production of Recombinant Hepatitis B Vaccine. In 1996, Dr. Ella returned to India and with the encouragement of his wife and his mother, set up a small laboratory in the city of Hyderabad. Their prime objective was to innovate in the development of affordable vaccines and biotherapeutics. As they wanted India to be known as the country that innovated and the name ‘Bharat Biotech International Ltd., was chosen. BBIL was established in 1997 in Hyderabad with the funds and assistance from angel investors. Since its inception, BBIL has produced over 4 billion doses of various human vaccines for diseases such as Hepatitis B, Rabies, Diphtheria, Rotavirus, and corona virus, etc., most of them for the Universal Immunisation Programme of India and for more than 120 developing countries to safeguard global public health. COVAXIN is Bharat Biotech’s 17th Vaccine and the first COVID-19 Vaccine which ® made in India. Dr. Ella and his team developed COVAXIN , the inactivated whole virus and adjuvanted vaccine, in a record time of just eight months. COVAXIN has been in use as a life saving vaccine against the COVID-19 pandemic since December 2020 across India and many other developing countries. WHO has also approved COVAXIN for emergency use against COVID-19. Dr. Ella once said, “Solving today’s problem is not innovation, it is the ability to predict the future problem and finding solutions to solve an important problem, something that matters to public health.” He strongly believes in the potential of upcoming generation of students to shape the future of India. “For students of science, their focus on academic performance today can yield a better life for them and also for everyone around them. Many years from now, there will be a new generation of science students reading about a different entrepreneur in their textbook. You can be that entrepreneur too!” (Courtesy: Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL)) 326 BiotechnologyXII Reprint 2025-26