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Adar Poonawalla

Adar Poonawalla

ADAR POONAWALLA, CEO of the Serum Institute of India, played a crucial role during the pandemic by manufacturing 2 billion doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. Now he is set to play an equally big role by trying to achieve what would once have been an impossible dream – “a malaria-free world”. The firm says: “Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd is a global leader in vaccine manufacturing, dedicated to providing affordable vaccines worldwide. Present across 170 plus countries, including the US, UK, and Europe, SII holds the distinction of being the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer. SII’s multifunctional production and one-of-the-largest facility in Manjri, Pune, with an annual capacity of 4 billion doses, has saved over 30 million lives over the years.” Of the 2 billion doses of the Covid-19 vac cine manufactured by the Serum Institute dur ing the pandemic, 15 per cent went abroad. The proportion would have been higher but when cremation grounds of India were barely coping with burning the bodies of those who had died from the disease, the Narendra Modi government slapped a temporary ban on the exports of the vaccine.

The Serum Institute and Oxford, which had previously been collaborating on a malaria vac cine, had to put this work to one side during the pandemic, while they focused on produc ing the Covid-19 vaccine in bulk under licence from Astra Zaneca. But now the good news is that the malaria vaccine – R21/Matrix-M™ – that they had been developing looks set to be given full clearance by the World Health Organization. It has crossed a major hurdle by being granted “prequalification status” by WHO. There is every hope it will save millions of lives. Sir Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute, and Lakshmi Mittal and family Professor of Vaccinology at Oxford, explained: “Over 600,000 deaths mainly among children are caused by malaria each year.


The disease presents a uniquely difficult scientific challenge: the complex composition of malaria parasites with shape-shifting pathogen that has learned how to evade our immune system, has made the development of an effective vaccine a formidable task. R21/Matrix-M™ represents the culmination of 30 years of collaborative research and development by the University of Oxford Jenner Institute and, since 2017 in partnership with the Serum Institute of India.” Poonawalla said that the WHO announcement “marks a tri umph for science, collaboration, and our shared vision for a malaria-free world. This achievement inspires us to dream bigger, work harder, and strive towards a future where we can offer better solutions for the millions burdened by this disease. Together with Oxford, we envision a world where every individual, regardless of their circumstances, has access to the protection they deserve. “This milestone is not just a validation of our efforts but a promise to those who have long awaited this news. The Serum Institute of India remains unwavering in its commitment to making this vaccine a global success, ensuring it reaches every corner where it may be needed.” Poonawalla promised to ramp up production just as he had done with the Covid vac cine: “This is why we stand ready to produce up 100 million doses for the first year, which will be scaled up to 200 million doses per annum over the next two years.” He added: “The Lancet study on R21/Matrix M™ Phase 3 trials mark a significant advancement in our battle against this global threat. Our collaboration with the University of Oxford has been instrumental in developing the R21/ Matrix-M™ malaria vaccine. We are dedicated to making this vaccine available, especially in Africa, where malaria poses a substantial threat to millions of lives, bringing us closer to a malaria-free world.” Poonawalla comes from a distinguished Parsi family, now headed by his 82-year-old father, Cyrus Poonawalla, who founded the Serum In stitute in 1960.

And Cyrus’s father, the late Soli Poonawalla, began the family’s involvement in horse racing which continues to this day. The Parsis form a tiny community in India – no more than 60,000 – but are known to be generous benefactors to Indian society. To further expand its global presence and ensure widespread vaccine availa bility, the parent company says it has established Serum Life Sciences Ltd, a subsidiary in the UK. It has invested £50 million in Oxford Biomedica, a gene and cell therapy group. It has also given £10 million to the Science Museum, the largest donation from a single source. The money will be used to transform one of the museum’s most iconic spaces– the “Making the Mod ern World Gallery” – which is set to re-open in 2028 as the “Discoveries Gallery”. Poonawalla is putting down deep roots in Britain in other ways. He has two sons, Cyrus and Darius, who were born in 2009 and 2015, respectively.

The older boy has been admitted to Eton College. Poonawalla often gets into the papers for the flamboyant life style that he and his wife Nata sha lead. Photographs appear regularly of the fashionably dressed couple mingling with Bol lywood and other showbiz celebrities. For ex ample, they hosted a glittering party at their Mumbai residence for the Jonas brothers, Nick (husband of the actress Priyanka Chopra), Kevin and Joe, who are members of an American band. The Financial Times caused a huge stir in December when it revealed: “India’s billionaire ‘vaccine prince’ Adar Poona walla has reached a deal for London’s most expensive home sale of the year, agreeing to pay about £138mn for a 25,000-square-foot Mayfair mansion.” The media in the UK and in India followed the FT story: “Aberconway House, a vast 1920s home near Hyde Park, will change hands after a sale was agreed by Dominika Kulczyk, daugh ter of the late businessman Jan Kulczyk, who was Poland’s richest man.

“The property will be acquired by Serum Life Sciences, a UK subsidiary of the Poonawalla family’s Serum Institute of India, people famil iar with the transaction said. The price tag makes Aberconway House the second-most expensive home ever sold in London and the biggest deal of the year, according to luxury property agents. “Poonawalla, who took over leadership of the Serum Institute from his father in 2011, rented the Grade II-listed property in 2021 for more than £50,000 a week, Bloomberg reported at the time. The impressive red-brick residence is named for Henry Duncan McLaren, Baron Aberconway, a turn-of-the-century industrialist who built the Grosvenor Square mansion.” But the Financial Times also pointed out: “In 2021, the family pledged £50m to Oxford uni versity for a new Poonawalla Vaccines Research Building. The Serum Institute manufactured hundreds of millions of doses of the Oxford/ AstraZeneca vaccine.” Poonawalla, who is considered to be one of the most influential Indians in the world, has also been photographed with the Indian prime minister Modi. And in August last year, Poona walla was personally handed the “Udyog Mitra” (friend of entrepreneurs) award by the chief minister of the state of Maharashtra.

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