When Cyrus S. Poonawalla founded the Serum Institute of India in 1966, his goal was straightforward: to make life-saving vaccines available at affordable prices.
More than six decades later, the company has become one of the world’s largest vaccine manufacturers, supplying products to countries across the world and playing a major role in global immunisation programmes.
The scale of the business is reflected in Poonawalla’s position on the M3M Hurun India Rich List 2026. He and his family rank fourth, with an estimated wealth of ₹3.03 lakh crore, up 23% from the previous year.
From Horse Breeding to Vaccine Manufacturing
The Poonawalla family’s business journey began with horses.
Cyrus’s father, Soli Poonawalla, established Poonawalla Stud Farms in 1946 with around a dozen mares and one stallion. The business later became one of India’s leading thoroughbred breeding operations.
Cyrus Poonawalla saw an opportunity to use horses to produce antiserum and other biological products. That idea led to the creation of the Serum Institute of India in Pune in 1966.
The company initially produced immunobiological products, including tetanus antitoxin, before expanding into a wider range of vaccines.
The Scale Behind Serum Institute’s Rise
Serum Institute built its business around high-volume production and affordability.
The company says it produces more than 1.3 billion vaccine doses annually and supplies vaccines to more than 140 countries. Its portfolio covers diseases including measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, polio and pneumococcal disease.
That scale helped establish Serum Institute as a major supplier to international immunisation programmes, particularly in developing markets.
The company says approximately 65% of children worldwide receive at least one vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute, based on its global supply footprint.
Covid-19 Put Serum Institute in the Global Spotlight
Serum Institute’s international presence predates the pandemic, but Covid-19 transformed its global profile.
The company partnered with AstraZeneca and Oxford University to manufacture the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for India and other markets. In India, the vaccine was marketed as Covishield.
Serum Institute says it ultimately supplied more than 2 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses worldwide. The pandemic also exposed the challenges of operating a vaccine supply chain at enormous scale, as demand surged, supply chains were disrupted, and countries introduced export restrictions.
Beyond Covid: Malaria, Nipah and TB
Serum Institute is now expanding its pipeline beyond Covid-19.
The company manufactures the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine, developed by Oxford University with Novavax’s Matrix-M adjuvant. In 2024, Serum Institute shipped its first doses to Africa and said it had the capacity to increase production to 100 million doses annually.
Its newer programmes include the ChAdOx1 NipahB vaccine candidate, for which Serum Institute signed a worldwide non-exclusive licence with Oxford University in March 2026.
The company is also working with Oxford on the next-generation malaria vaccine component R78C and has an agreement with the Gates Medical Research Institute to manufacture the M72/AS01E tuberculosis vaccine candidate, subject to successful Phase 3 results.
These partnerships point to a strategy that combines Serum Institute’s manufacturing capabilities with research from universities and biotechnology organisations.
Building Manufacturing Capacity for the Next Phase
The Poonawalla family’s vaccine business has expanded well beyond its original Pune facility.
The Poonawalla Biotech Park at Manjari covers 42 acres and is designed to manufacture products including HPV vaccines, Tdap, monoclonal antibodies, biosimilars, rotavirus vaccines and recombinant BCG.
The Manjari facility has been described as having an annual capacity of up to 4 billion doses across products.
For a vaccine manufacturer, production capacity is critical. Developing a vaccine is only one part of the process. Manufacturing it consistently at scale while meeting regulatory and quality requirements across multiple markets requires substantial infrastructure.
Adar Poonawalla Takes on a Bigger Role
Cyrus Poonawalla remains chairman and managing director of Serum Institute, while his son Adar Poonawalla serves as CEO.
Adar has played a central role in expanding manufacturing capacity, international partnerships and the company’s vaccine pipeline. His profile rose sharply during the Covid-19 pandemic, when Serum Institute became one of the world’s most closely watched vaccine manufacturers.
The transition therefore has been taking place through an expanding operating role rather than a single formal succession announcement.
The Empire Extends Beyond Vaccines
Serum Institute remains the family’s defining business, but the Poonawalla Group has interests across healthcare, biotechnology, financial services, real estate and hospitality.
The family’s financial-services business includes Poonawalla Fincorp, while its equestrian interests trace back to the stud farm established by Cyrus’s father.
The group has also attracted outside investment. In 2025, TPG agreed to acquire a 35% stake in SCHOTT Poonawalla, the family’s joint venture with SCHOTT Pharma.
The transaction reflects the family’s expansion into areas beyond vaccine manufacturing, including pharmaceutical packaging and drug-delivery systems.
Healthcare Remains a Major Philanthropic Focus
The family’s philanthropic activities have largely remained connected to healthcare, education, and community initiatives.
The Villoo Poonawalla Foundation, named after Cyrus Poonawalla’s late wife, has supported healthcare and education projects. In 2025, Cyrus Poonawalla inaugurated a new facility for the Indian Red Cross Society’s Dr Cyrus S. Poonawalla School for Hearing Impaired in Pune.
From Pune to a Global Vaccine Business
Cyrus Poonawalla’s business story is unusual because the company’s global scale was built around affordability and volume rather than high-priced medicines.
Serum Institute became a major international vaccine supplier by combining manufacturing capacity, regulatory expertise and partnerships with organisations such as Oxford, Novavax and the Gates Medical Research Institute.
The family’s ₹3.03 lakh crore wealth estimate in the 2026 Hurun ranking reflects the scale of the business empire, but the more significant measure of Poonawalla’s legacy is the manufacturing platform behind it.
Founded in Pune in 1966, Serum Institute now operates across international markets and is involved in vaccines targeting diseases including malaria, Nipah and tuberculosis.
The next phase will depend on how effectively the company can turn promising vaccine candidates into affordable products that can be manufactured and distributed at global scale.
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