Serum Institute That Made India the 'World Vaccine Capital' [Hidden Eop Story]

Production of Essential Pediatric Vaccines for Poor Countries in India
Grown into a Major Company with Annual Production Capacity of 1.6 Billion Doses
"Everyone Must Be Healthy in the 21st Century" - Chairman's Philosophy
Contract Manufacturing of COVID-19 Vaccines
Indian Prime Minister: "Indian Vaccines Save Lives Worldwide"

Police officer receiving a COVID-19 vaccine in Mumbai, India. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] With the completion of COVID-19 vaccine development, attention is turning to India. While vaccine development was the domain of advanced scientific pharmaceutical companies in countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany, the mass production and distribution of the invented vaccines is the responsibility of India, which possesses one of the world's largest vaccine production capacities.

The secret behind India becoming the "world vaccine capital" lies in the world's number one vaccine contract manufacturing company, Serum Institute of India (Serum). Led by Cyrus Poonawalla, a representative Indian conglomerate chairman, Serum succeeded in achieving high growth by mass-producing affordable vaccines and selling them to developing countries.

◆ Serum Institute Established to Produce Pediatric Vaccines

Chairman Poonawalla was born in India in 1945. At that time, his parents made a fortune raising racehorses on a farm, and influenced by them, Poonawalla also took an interest in the luxury goods market such as horse racing and high-end automobiles?goods that are not essential for human life and whose demand fluctuates easily with price changes.

However, Poonawalla soon encountered limitations in the luxury goods business he was planning. In the 1960s, India, led by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, was a socialist country where demand for luxury goods like racehorses and sports cars was very low. Instead, Poonawalla turned his attention to the pharmaceutical sector.

At that time, India was pursuing industrialization through an "import substitution strategy," a policy encouraging domestic production of goods that were previously imported.

Residents wearing masks and lining up to board a bus at a bus stop in India. / Photo by Yonhap News

The problem was that this policy imposed high import tariffs on various vaccines that were not produced domestically in India at the time. As a result, many children in Indian slums lost their lives because they could not receive essential vaccinations.

To solve this problem, Poonawalla established Serum in 1966 and started producing pediatric vaccines affordably by setting up a vaccine factory.

In its early years, Serum manufactured tetanus vaccines and later expanded its product line to include diphtheria vaccines, pertussis vaccines, and snake venom antivenoms. All these diseases were highly fatal to children in India, which was then a poor country.

In 1989, Serum began mass-producing measles vaccines and exporting them not only to India but also to neighboring developing countries. Since the 21st century, Serum has actively acquired advanced pharmaceutical companies in the US and Europe to secure cutting-edge manufacturing technologies. It has grown into the world's largest vaccine manufacturer, capable of producing approximately 1.6 billion vaccine doses annually. This accounts for about 44% of India's total annual vaccine production capacity of 3.6 billion doses.

◆50% of Children in Developing Countries Worldwide Receive Serum Vaccines

Poonawalla emphasizes Serum's management goal as "every child should receive the necessary medicines and vaccines." In his autobiography, he defined this goal as "making everyone healthy by the 21st century."

Serum has made significant contributions to child health. Since 1994, under the certification of the World Health Organization (WHO), it has supplied high-quality vaccines to United Nations (UN) agencies and has continuously provided vaccine aid to international relief organizations such as UNICEF and PAHO.

Serum plays a particularly important role in child health in developing countries. According to Serum's data, since 2000, 50% of children in over 100 developing countries worldwide have been vaccinated with Serum-produced vaccines.

AstraZeneca vaccine (Covishield) manufactured under contract in India. / Photo by Yonhap News

◆Prime Minister Modi: "Indian Vaccines Save Lives Worldwide"

Serum is also active on the front lines of COVID-19 prevention. Serum vaccines are scheduled to be distributed to developing countries that lack the budget to purchase vaccines in large quantities.

Serum signed a contract for contract manufacturing of the vaccine developed by British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and Oxford University. The vaccine produced at Serum's factory in India will be exported worldwide under the product name "Covishield."

Earlier, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised Covishield as an "Indian vaccine" during a press conference last month, emphasizing, "We are currently saving lives worldwide by sending vaccines to various countries."

Meanwhile, Serum plans to accelerate the expansion of its vaccine production capacity. Since last year, Serum has been expanding its vaccine factory located in Pune, India, and aims to increase its annual production capacity from about 1.6 billion doses to 2.5 billion doses by next year.

Regarding this, Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum, recently stated in an interview with local Indian media, "Our goal is to supply vaccines to India, Africa, and other developing countries," emphasizing, "Vaccines developed by American companies like Pfizer and Moderna are sold at high prices of $25 to $37 per dose (approximately 27,000 to 49,000 KRW), but we can sell vaccines at $3 to $4 (approximately 3,300 to 4,400 KRW) per dose."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.