ADAR POONAWALLA’s company has helped save countless lives throughout the world which is why he has become a global icon. He is the 42-year-old CEO of the Serum Institute of India (SII), which manufactured nearly 2 billion doses of the Covid vaccine during the pandemic. Of that 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 government slapped a temporary ban on the exports of the Covid vaccine.
The poorer countries in particular looked to the SII, the world’s biggest vaccine manufacturer, for help during the pandemic. Poonawalla comes from a distinguished Parsi family, now headed by his 82-year-old father, Cyrus Poonawalla, who founded the Serum Institute 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.
The Covid vaccine, called Covishield in India, now has a booster, Covovax, which Poonawalla said had been offered to China. The pandemic could not be said to be over, he explained, while China struggled with fresh outbreaks of Covid. After all, the pandemic had started in Wuhan in China in December 2019 before spreading across the world.
“The reason why we offered Covovax to them is because it’s proven with its neutralising antibodies and human trials, that it works very well against Omicron and its sub-variants. In fact, it had a two to three times higher response than even Covishield. As the strains change, the older vaccines become ineffective towards the newer strains. The booster is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, by Europe, and 30 other countries.”
He did not think that India’s reputation as “the pharmacy capital of the world” had been dented by “isolated, one of events” in Gambia, where a large number of children had died after ingesting cough syrup made in India. The cough medicine contained diethylene glycol, an industrial solvent.
Poonawalla, who had visited the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2022 and 2023, said he found that “everyone wants to invest in India as the quality for all our products is top notch. The Serum Institute is approved by US FDA and by Europe. The rigorous inspections they put us through and our quality systems ensure that nothing slips through the gaps. I don’t think India’s image can be shaken by one or two isolated events. Yes, there may be some temporary doubts here and there, which sometimes get politicised and exaggerated.”
Poonawalla is also poised to send a malaria vaccine, again developed with Oxford University, to Africa where he is confident it will save millions of lives.
The SII had been working with Oxford University on the malaria vaccine when the Covid-19 pandemic unexpectedly came along and had to be given priority. Oxford worked with AstraZaneca, the British-Swedish firm, which gave the SII the licence to manufacture the Covid vaccine in India.
Poonawalla said the attempt to find a malaria vaccine “is the original partnership that we have with Oxford University. We’ve been working on it for years. We have submitted all the information to the WHO (World Health Organisation) that it is more than 77 per cent effective, which is much more than anything else available on the market. Once the WHO looks at all that data, we can start manufacturing at some point this year. And hopefully, in small quantities initially, we can roll it out on the continent of Africa. Since the parasite claims millions of lives in Africa, this vaccine would be hugely impactful.”
The vaccine for India, where the parasite which causes malaria is different to the one found in Africa, would take another three years. In two years, India will have a dengue vaccine.
Poonawalla spoke of the SII’s HPV (Human papillomavirus vaccine) against cervical cancer. “This is going to be launched in the next few months. We’ve got the DCGI (Drugs Controller General of India) approval. It’s going to be in very small quantities for this year; it’s more of a symbolic launch to show the innovation that can happen in India. It is the first made in India cervical cancer vaccine. The large capacities will come in from next year.”
Poonawalla is working with the WHO and other countries to learn from the mistakes made during the last couple of years and prepare for the next pandemic. The idea is to ensure poorer countries do not miss out and the world is united in its fight against whatever comes along. It should be like the international agreements to tackle climate change.
Poonawalla commented: “I’m so happy that the WHO is trying to get something called the ‘Pandemic Accords’. Last time in Davos I was advocating a global treaty. You will have cooperation and signing up of countries cooperating and saying that, look, if there is another pandemic we will share raw materials, vaccines, and technology. The lessons from the pandemic are we did go a little wrong in terms of vaccine equity and many other things.”
Although the SII’s manufacturing base is in Pune in India, Poonawalla, who has a home in London and other family links with the UK, is trying to extend its global footprint. Serum Life Sciences, a subsidiary of the Serum Institute of India, has committed itself to investing £240m in the UK to support clinical trials, research and possibly the manufacture of vaccines. Poonawalla is investing £50m in Oxford Biomedica, a “leading, fully integrated, gene and cell therapy group focused on developing life changing treatments for serious diseases”.
The Poonawallas have had a long relationship with Oxford, which awarded an honorary degree to Cyrus Poonawalla in 2019 “in recognition of his extraordinary work manufacturing inexpensive vaccines for the developing world”.
Poonawalla keeps a close eye on British politics. When Rishi Sunak became prime minister in October last year, he was quick to tweet: “Congratulations @RishiSunak, what a comeback! you have made history! I have always maintained that you are one of the most committed and capable leaders not just for the #ConservativeParty, but also for the UK.”
He stays in touch with Westminster University where he graduated with an honours degree in Business Studies in 2002.
He recalled: “My memories at Westminster are of a nice learning environment and culture which taught me team building and interacting with peers, overall a great learning experience, for which I am always happy and grateful.”
“I always had a passion from the early days for science and technology. My time as a student at Westminster taught me how to work in a group and do group related projects, and I enjoyed interactions with my fellow students there.”
Prof Alexandra Hughes, Westminster’s deputy vice chancellor for global engagement and employability at Westminster, responded: “We are immensely proud of our alumnus Adar Poonawalla. Westminster graduates around the world make a difference to society in all sorts of ways. Poonawalla’s work in public health illustrates just how vital that difference is. We are delighted that his learning at Westminster helped set him on his path to business success and global impact.”
