Dr. Cyrus S. Poonawalla is the Chairman and Managing Director of the Cyrus Poonawalla Group of Companies. He founded the Serum Institute of India in 1966, which has become the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by number of doses produced and sold globally (more than 1.3 billion doses).

Within two years of founding the Serum Institute of India, he introduced the therapeutic anti-tetanus serum and began producing anti-tetanus vaccines. Then, by 1974, the institute launched the DTP vaccine, which helped protect children from diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis. This was followed by the Serum Institute of India’s development of an anti-snake-venom serum in 1981.

Soon after, the Serum Institute of India kicked off production for the Measles Vaccine (M-Vac) and, within a year, became the country’s largest vaccine manufacturer. The relentless research and development of the institute led India to become self-sufficient in tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough vaccines in the 1980s

In 1994, the Serum Institute of India was accredited by the World Health Organization (WHO) to export vaccines and started supplying doses to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), among others.

Dr. Poonawalla’s main goal from the beginning was to minimize the shortage of life-saving vaccines and to take active efforts to protect every child. His dictum was ‘Health for all by 2000 AD’, which resulted in the ‘National Program of Immunization’, largely supported by Serum Institute of India’s vaccines.

That philosophy soon spread worldwide, and by 1998, the institute was exporting vaccines to more than 100 countries. By the year 2000, one out of every two children in the world was vaccinated with a dose developed by the Serum Institute of India.

Dr. Poonawalla’s commitment to developing affordable, quality vaccines has today made Serum Institute of India the No. 1 biotechnology company in the country. The institute now produces polio, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, HIB, BCG, r-Hepatitis B, measles, mumps, rubella, pneumococcal and COVID-19 vaccines.

In 2012, Dr. Poonawalla founded the Villoo Poonawalla Foundation to carry forward the legacy of the late Mrs. Villoo C. Poonawalla. In over a decade, the foundation has impacted more than a million lives and fueled real change in society through its education, healthcare, and other initiatives.