The University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business has conferred the Asia-Pacific BioBusiness Leadership Award 2005, the first in a series of regional and global BioBusiness Leadership Awards, upon Dr Prathap C Reddy, the founder and chairman of the Apollo Hospitals Group, having a large hospital and healthcare services network in Asia.

"Through his revolutionizing of modern healthcare delivery in South Asia, Dr Reddy is bringing world-class healthcare and the benefits of advanced technologies within the economic and geographic reach of millions of patients for the first time. Dr Reddy is one of a growing number of inspirational leaders providing the foundation for future growth and development for biobusiness in Asia-Pacific," said Carl Feldbaum, chairman of the selection committee for the Asia-Pacific BioBusiness Leadership Award and president emeritus of the US Biotechnology Industry Organization.

The BioBusiness Leadership Awards are sponsored by the Global BioBusiness Initiative, a program of the USC Marshall Center for Global Business Excellence (C-Globe). Led by Dr Gurinder S Shahi, the Global BioBusiness Initiative serves as an international resource dedicated to facilitating interdisciplinary leadership in the biobusiness area.

Today, the Apollo Hospitals Group has more than 35 hospitals throughout South Asia with more than 20,000 employees and nearly 6,000 hospital beds.

The Asia-Pacific BioBusiness Leadership Award 2005 will be presented to Dr Reddy at the USC Asia-Pacific Business Outlook 2005 on April 7, 2005.