Serum Institute of India


Serum Institute of India is a manufacturer of immunobiological drugs including vaccines in India. It was founded by Cyrus Poonawalla in 1966. The company is a subsidiary of the holding company Poonawalla Investment and Industries.

Overview

The company is the world's largest vaccine producer by number of doses produced. The company produces around 1.3 billion doses of vaccines each year. The products developed include tuberculosis vaccine Tubervac, Poliovac for poliomyelitis, and other vaccinations for the childhood vaccination schedule.
As of 2009, the institute was developing an intranasal swine flu vaccine. In 2016, with support from US-based Mass Biologics of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, it invented a fast-acting anti-rabies agent, Rabies Human Monoclonal Antibody, also known as Rabishield.
The company made its first international acquisition when it acquired , a pharmaceutical company in the Netherlands in 2012.

COVID-19 vaccine development

The company has tied up with pharma firm AstraZeneca, which is developing a vaccine in partnership with Oxford University. It is reported that Serum Institute would provide 1 billion doses of the vaccine in India and other low and middle-income countries.