The French government has bestowed the award of Officier de L'Ordre National du Mérite (Officer of the National Order of Merit) on Dr Villoo Morawala - Patell, founder, chairperson and managing director of Avesthagen Ltd.

The National Order of Merit is an Order of Chivalry awarded by the president of the French Republic. It was founded on December 3, 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle.

The award conferred H. E. Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy, Hon'ble president of the Republic of France is to be presented to Dr Villoo Morawala--Patell by the Ambassador of France to India, Jerome Bonnafont at a felicitation ceremony in Bangalore on 23 April 2008. The citation reads "This award acknowledges your great merits as a prominent figure in the scientific field in the entrepreneurship of your country, as the creator of Avesthagen, a major company in India in the area of biotechnologies. It is also a tribute to your cooperation with French scientists, you're numerous and fruitful partnerships with major French industrial firms, and to the affection you have on many occasions expressed for our country".

Accepting the award, Dr Patell said, "This is indeed a moment of great pride. This is not just an award for me; it is recognition of the achievement of India in the field of Science and Innovation. It's an award for the entire industry. India has arrived on the scientific map of the world and has emerged as an intellectual powerhouse to reckon with".

Dr Villoo Morawala-Patell is a combination of Scientist and Businesswoman. With the desire to drive the development of research in Life Sciences, she founded Avesthagen to promote a sustainable innovation platform for the Nation. Today, after seven years of business life, Avesthagen has emerged as India's leading knowledge based Life Sciences company. The company drives itself on an integrated approach to innovation leading to convergence of food, pharma and population genetics across the life-science space. Avesthagen's partners include global companies in each of its fields of research. French companies bioMerieux, Limagrain and Danone, as also Indian companies Cipla and Godrej have partnered with Avesthagen Ltd contributing to the growth of the biotech industry.

Dr Patell is a key member of the Task Force and Vision Group for Biotechnology, instituted by the State Government of Karnataka and founding member of the Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises (ABLE). She was recently invited as a Member on the Board of the Bill Clinton Global Health Initiative. Dr Patell has received the BioSpectrum Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2006 and the Outstanding Woman Entrepreneur Award for the year 2005-2006 from Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI). She was also the recipient of the Ojaswini Award for Science and Technology.