Corona Daily 339: India’s Vaccine Prince

Adar Poonawalla.

This name will be heard a lot more in the next couple of years. The 39-year old is the CEO of the Serum Institute, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer. 65% of the children in the world across 170 countries receive at least one vaccine made by Serum. At an average of 50 cents a dose, these are among the cheapest.

Poonawallas belong to the Parsi community, the fire worshippers, who fled Persia during the seventh century Muslim conquest. Practitioners of Zoroastrianism, they settled in India and prospered. Distinguished by their industry and integrity, Parsis are among India’s most successful entrepreneurs. Overzealousness about ethnic purity has made Parsis an endangered species; they will soon be called a tribe. Adar will require only two hours to produce enough doses to vaccinate every Parsi in the world. Many Parsees took their professions (doctor, carpenter) or locations as surnames. The family of Poonawallas is indeed from Poona.

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Though Adar is a charming prince, the kingdom was founded by his father, Cyrus. The Poonawalla family traditionally owned horse stud farms. The family was closely tied to India’s horse racing circuit. As a young man, Cyrus realized horse racing had no future in socialist India. A chance conversation with a vet led Cyrus into vaccines. Until then, Poonawallas donated the retired horses to Bombay’s Haffkine institute. Haffkine collected the horses’ serum to make vaccines. Cyrus decided to cut the chain short by making vaccines himself. One way was to inject horses with small amounts of toxin and then extract the horse’s antibody-rich serum.

In 1967, Cyrus began with the tetanus vaccine. That was followed by snakebite antidotes, TB, hepatitis, polio and flu. Cheap labour, focus on volumes over margins, and advanced technology made the Serum Institute the world’s top vaccine manufacturer. Dr Cyrus Poonawalla is India’s seventh richest man valued at $15 billion. The Serum institute remains an unlisted private company with two decision makers, Cyrus and his son Adar. That helps quick decision making, so essential in crisis times.

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The Poonawallas are not shy to flaunt their wealth. Adar’s office is a refurbished A-320 aircraft. He can have dinner in Poona, sleep in one of his long-range jets, conduct meetings in Europe, and return to Poona the same day. He has never experienced the airport crowd. The family has an insanely large collection of Rolls Royces, Ferraris, Batmobiles, and top-end Bentleys and Lamborghinis. This is in addition to thoroughbreds which Adar rides regularly.

Adar and his wife Natasha, a fashion icon, and an MSc from the London School of Economics, is perhaps India’s number one power couple. It is an honour for Bollywood and other celebrities to attend parties at their home. In 2013, they hosted Prince Charles and his entourage during his visit to India.

In 2015, Poonawallas bought Lincoln house, a palatial seaside house occupied by the US Consulate in Bombay for decades. They picked up the 50,000 sq feet heritage mansion for $113 million, India’s most expensive house purchase ever. Residents of Bombay applying for a US visa may have visited the grounds of that house in the past.

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Despite the lavish lifestyle, Poonawallas are grounded and known for their philanthropy. Adar has decided to gamble in a big way by already starting the production of the Oxford vaccine. He expects to sell them for $3 per dose to India and other poor countries. If after the trials, the vaccine is unsuccessful, the millions of doses will have to be thrown away.

No Covid-19 vaccine is possible without involving India’s Serum institute. For the sake of his courage, one wishes Adar Poonawalla success in his gamble.

Ravi