Adar Poonawalla
Chief executive of the Serum Institute of India in Hadapsar, the world's largest vaccine maker by number of doses.
Quick facts
- Known for:
- Serum Institute of India, Covishield
- Pune link:
- Hadapsar
Life and work
Adar Poonawalla, son of Cyrus Poonawalla, has been chief executive of the Serum Institute of India since 2011. The company makes more vaccine doses than any other company in the world, and its vaccines are used in more than 170 countries.
During the Covid pandemic the Serum Institute made Covishield, the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, in very large numbers for India and other countries.
Pune link
The Serum Institute's main campus is at Hadapsar. Adar Poonawalla has also supported civic work in Pune, such as the clean-up of roads near the airport with the Pune Municipal Corporation.
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Sources: Written by PuneDiary. Facts checked 29 October 2026.