Serum institute pune

PUNE, India — Each of the 500 vials hurtling off conveyor belts every minute holds a world of hope: the prospect of protecting someone from The factory at the Serum Institute of India, a manufacturer of immunobiological drugs, appears ready to play a global role in the production of Covid-19 vaccines, once they are developed, because few manufacturers can match the scale of its facilities. As a leading supplier to the developing world, it is also in the forefront of efforts to combat “The only choice the world community has is to fire as many barrels as possible to try and get as many vaccines as possible so as to improve our chances of dealing with this disease,” said Adar Poonawalla, the company’s chief executive. Normal as it might seem to want to stop the virus at home before worrying about the rest of the world, health experts warn that, absent international immunization, the virus will continue to spread. “Covid anywhere is Covid everywhere” said Melinda Gates of the Gates Foundation. “Even if you vaccinate the entire Midwest of the United States or every single person in our country … if you still have Covid raging in another country, it’s going to bounce back to our borders.” A technician monitors vaccine vials passing through a filling and capping machine at the Serum Institute of India Ltd. pharmaceutical plant in the city of Pune. Sanjit Das / Bloomberg via Getty Images file Since the start of the pandemic, which has infected more than 50 million people worldwid...

While Serum Institute of India (SII) has acknowledged that “bottlenecks” exist in supplies of some raw materials used in the manufacture of the Covid-19 vaccine, people familiar with the situation at the company said it was unlikely to have any impact on the production of the vaccine in the immediate future. SII, a key global player in production of Covid-19 vaccines, has enough supplies to continue manufacturing at current capacities for now, they said. “We are hoping that these bottlenecks would be sorted out soon,” one of them told The Indian Express. SII is producing the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University under its own brand name ‘Covishield’ and also has agreements with some other developers to produce their vaccines. Recently, the company’s CEO Adar Poonawalla had admitted that restrictions on exports of certain items in the United States was a “serious limiting factor” in scaling up production of “I have been focussing on supplies of vaccine doses via the Covax facility. I do not want to get into technical issues, but for free global access to vaccines, if we can’t get the raw materials out of the United States, that’s going to be a serious limiting factor. We have stockpiled many doses but there are several constraints like (availability of) bags, filters and other critical items that manufacturers need,” Poonawalla had said at an online discussion. The Covax facility he mentioned was a reference to a global platform, backed by the World Health ...

• • • Serum Institute of India fire: All you need to know Serum Institute of India fire: All you need to know The fire, which killed five labourers, comes as a shock to the nation as SII is one of the two firms leading India's fight against the novel coronavirus disease by manufacturing the Covishield vaccine by Oxford-AstraZeneca. At least five people were killed after a major fire broke out in a five-storeyed under-construction building in one of the campuses of vaccine major Serum Institute of India’s (SIIs) in Pune on Thursday. The incident came as a shock to the nation as SII is one of the two firms leading India’s fight against the novel coronavirus disease. Calling the incident unfortunate, Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, chairman and managing director, SII, said a few floors of the building have destroyed in the fire. However, this would not affect the production of the Covishield vaccine, he assured. SII is manufacturing the Covishield vaccine by Oxford-AstraZeneca in India under a license. How did the fire break out? The fire broke out in the three upper floors of the newly-constructed six-storey building inside the SII campus. While the cause of fire is yet to be ascertained, fire brigade and police officers said the fire became intense because of the presence of inflammable material like PVC, plastic, plywood and acrylic at the site. “There was a lot of air conditioning material, including insulation material and objects used for fabrication. There were objects made from ...

• • • • His father built a vaccine empire. Adar Poonawalla is now busy diversifying it His father built a vaccine empire. Adar Poonawalla is now busy diversifying it The CEO of Serum Institute of India is finding newer frontiers to invest the family wealth. And he ensures these companies have the potential to complement the world's largest vaccine maker Manu Balachandran is a writer for Forbes India, based in Bengaluru. At Forbes India, Manu writes on automobiles, aviation, pharmaceuticals, banking, infrastructure, economy and long profiles among many others. He also moderates many of Forbes India's CEO and CXO events and hosts Capital Ideas, a podcast on the most riveting success stories from the business world. He has previously worked with Quartz, The Economic Times and Business Standard in Mumbai and New Delhi. Manu has a master's degree in journalism from Cardiff University and a degree in economics from the Loyola College. When not chasing stories, he is most likely obsessing over Formula 1 (Read: Lewis Hamilton), historical events and people, or planning long weekend drives from Bengaluru Adar Poonawalla, CEO, Serum Institute of India (SII) Image: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg via Getty Images​ For millions of Indians, the pandemic meant a shot or two, or sometimes even three, in the arm. For Adar Poonawalla and the Serum Institute of India (SII), however, it turned out to be a much-needed shot in the arm. That’s because, in just a few years, the Pune-headquartered company...