COVID-19: Meet Adar Poonawala, the man behind Serum Institute of India developing Covishield vaccine

New Delhi: Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) has collaborated with Oxford University and pharmaceutical company Astra Zeneca for making the COVID-19 vaccine, ''Covidshield'', and is conducting trials in India.

The vaccine major’s CEO Adar Poonawalla is right now the man of the moment. Here is all about Adar Poonawalla.

Adar Poonawalla was born on 14 January 1981.

Serum Institute of India was founded in 1966 by his father Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla.

IT is the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by the number of doses produced, as of 2017.

Adar Poonawalla joined the Serum Institute of India in 2001.

He has graduated from the University of Westminster in London.

He became the CEO of Serum Institute with complete control of the day-to-day operations of the company in 2011.

Serum Institute of India made its first International acquisition by acquiring Bilthoven Biologicals, a bioengineering and pharmaceutical company from The Netherlands Government in 2012, during which Adar Poonawalla played a major role.

Poonawalla is also associated as a board member of the GAVI Alliance, which is the global Vaccine Alliance.

In 2011, he founded the Villoo Poonawalla Foundation, in memory of his late mother Mrs. Villoo Poonawalla.

The foundation comprises of 6 schools, 1 hospital, 25 water plants.

He initiated and launched Serum Institute’s Oral Polio Vaccine in 2014.