Indian Billionaires Bet Big on Head Start in Coronavirus Vaccine Race - The New York Times

Indian Billionaires Bet Big on Head Start in Coronavirus Vaccine Race - The New York Times

World’s largest vaccine producer ramps up

The Serum Institute of India makes 1.5 billion doses of vaccines every year. It has put its might behind the coronavirus-vaccine candidate being developed at the University of Oxford, UK, and is preparing to produce 500 doses each minute in the hopes that trials will prove the vaccine’s efficacy. The private company was founded by Cyrus Poonawalla, a horse-breeder who pivoted his equine resources from running races to being used for horse-serum-based vaccines. Now one of India’s richest families, the Poonawallas have promised that the company’s output will be split 50–50 between India and the rest of the world, with a focus on poorer countries. “We just felt that this was our sort of moment,” says CEO Adar Poonawalla of the company’s US$450-million gamble.
The New York Times | 8 min read