The Serum Institute of India (SII) is valued at $12.8 billion in 2021. It has developed many vaccines for 50 years now, with its latest discovery being the coronavirus vaccine. It was started off as an epiphany that came to Cyrus and Zaveri Poonawalla, and of course, Adar Poonawalla. So how did it all begin?
How did the Serum Institute of India (SII) become established?
Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla was the proud owner of his horse stud farm. Owing to the riches he had, the advent of the SII wouldn’t have been established had it not been for retired horses being sent to Mumbai to be tried for horse serum. There was an evident gap in the market, that was fulfilled only by importing vaccines from other countries.
Thanks to a conversation with another vet, Poonawalla came to the conclusion that he could well establish his own institute that could mass-produce vaccines for different medical conditions, for humans and animals. This led him towards Government bodies for funding. He also raised $12,000 by selling horses.
Thus, Cyrus and Zaveri Poonawalla started SII in 1966.
What is the condition of SII today?
The Serum Institute of India (SII) has successfully managed to grow in the last couple of decades. Over three decades, the Poonawalla brothers have faced extremities and overcome them gracefully. They are bigger than Coca Cola and PepsiCo as well.
With the recent advent of the coronavirus vaccination, SII claims that a normal vaccine takes about 4 to 5 years to get approved. However, this vaccine is already undergoing trials in the UK. Upon successful implementation, it will soon be available for everyone in India.
Their CovidShield vaccine is supposed to start off with an 80% success rate. As more trials are conducted, the figures are yet to change for the better, providing India and the world a substantial relief from the horror of the yesteryears.
Source: GQ India
