Written by Madhav Bahl, a grade 8 student

Adar Poonawalla is the Chief Executive Officer of Serum Institute of India, which was founded by his father, Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla

What is the Serum Institute of India?

Serum Institute of India is the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer – calculated by the number of doses produced, as of 2017. They are also trying to roll out a vaccine for Covid – 19. Called Covishield, this is being developed in partnership with Oxford University.

About Adar Poonawalla

Adar Poonawalla joined the Serum Institute of India in 2001 after he graduated from the University of Westminster in London. During his tenure, he focused mostly on the international markets. He launched many new products in the market by resolving their license problems.

He officially took control of all Serum’s operations in 2011. In 2012 he played a major role in the acquisition of Bilthoven Biological, a Netherlands-based government vaccine manufacturing company. 

Poonawalla is also a board member of the GAVI Alliance which is the global Vaccine Alliance in the world.

As a child, Adar studied in the Bishop’s School St Edmund’s School Canterbury, Pune.

Various achievements and goals

• In 2013 he hosted His Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth,  Prince Charles of Wales, and The Duchess of Cornwall and took them on a private visit to Serum Institute’s manufacturing facility in India.
• He was also listed as one of the 50 most influential young Indians by the GQ Magazine and was also awarded Philanthropist of the year in 2016.
• In 2011, he founded the Villoo Poonawalla Foundation in memory of his late mother Mrs. Villoo Poonawalla.  Today the foundation has 6 schools, 1 hospital, 25 water plants at different locations, 250 trucks, and machinery picking up and processing waste in and around the city of Pune.
• He helps address the inequality that exists in India, and around the world, in the focused areas of Healthcare, Education, Water, Sanitation, and the Environment.
• He launched Serum Institute’s Oral Polio Vaccine in 2014, which helped fulfill a global shortage of Polio vaccines at that time.
• In 2014 he  expanded SII’s presence in the healthcare industry by including  vaccines for dengue, flu, and cervical cancer
• He has received many business awards from CNBC TV18, CNN TV18, Economic Times, Hurun,  to name a few in the recent past.

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