Adar Poonawalla is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Serum Institute of India and an Indian businessman. His father, Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla (India's Vaccine King), launched the company in 1966, and it is now the world's largest vaccine maker. Adar Poonawalla has earned numerous headlines. He made headlines in 2013 when he was named one of the "Four Scions to Watch Out For" by Forbes India.
Adar Poonawalla joined the Serum Institute of India in 2001 after graduating from the University of Westminster in London, and became CEO in 2011. When Serum Institute announced that it is partnering with a British company to supply the world with the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University in England, he made headlines. CNBC, CNN, the Economic Times, and Hurun have all given him business and philanthropy honours.
Adar Poonawalla was born on January 14, 1981, and as of 2021, he is 39 years old. He was born and raised in Pune, Maharashtra, India, in a well-educated family. Leo is his zodiac sign.
He attended Bishops School in Pune, Maharashtra, for his early education. He then enrolled in St. Edmund's School in Canterbury, Kent, United Kingdom, where he completed his secondary education. Later, he completed his PhD studies at the University of Westminster in London.
He had always wanted to join his father's business and extend it throughout the world by selling its items to different countries since he was a child. After graduating from London, he joined the Serum Institute in 2001.
Adar Poonawalla is from Pune, Maharashtra, India, and comes from a well-educated Parsi family. He is an Indian national who practises the Parsee faith. Cyrus Poonawalla, his father, is the founder of the Serum Institute of India. Natasha Poonawalla, his wife, is an Indian businesswoman who is also the chairwoman of the Villoo Poonawalla Foundation and the executive director of the Serum Institute of India.
After completing his graduate studies, Adar Poonawalla began his work. He also worked with the World Health Organization to obtain new items licenced and pre-qualified. He began supplying UNICEF and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) with his company's products. After Adar joined the company, they began exporting their products to nearly 140 countries, with foreign sales accounting for 85 percent of their entire revenue.
Later, he rose to become the Serum Institute's CEO, with complete control over the company's day-to-day operations.
His company purchased Bilthoven Biologicals, a government vaccine manufacturing company located in the Netherlands, in 2012, and Praha Vaccine Limited in the Czech Republic in 2017.
His Serum Institute developed and introduced an oral polio vaccine in 2014, which went on to become the company's best-selling product. He also sought to increase the product portfolio, according to reports, and decided to include vaccines for dengue, influenza, and cervical cancer.
Adar Poonawalla has won numerous important accolades for his outstanding contributions to public health. He received the GQ Magazine's Philanthropist of the Year award in 2016.
In 2017, he was also honoured with the Humanitarian Endeavour Award at the Hall of Fame Awards. He was also named Indian of the Year in the CSR business category by CNN-News 18 in the same year.
In 2018, he received the Business Leader of the Year Award from former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at the Edge Maharashtra Achievers Awards.
