Adar Poonawalla (born 14 January 1981) the chief executive officer (CEO) of Serum Institute of India. Founded in 1966 by his father, Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla, it is the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by number of doses produced.
Serum Institute of India which also declared that it will soon apply to the Indian regulator for the licensure trials of the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine.
Commenting on the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine's results, Adar Poonawalla, CEO, Serum Institute of India (SII), said, "As soon as they grant us permission, we will begin with trials for the vaccine in India. In addition, we will soon start manufacturing the vaccine in large volumes."
He was educated at the Bishops School (Pune), St. Edmund's School, Canterbury Kent (UK).
Adar did his bachelors from the University of Westminster in management.
Adar Poonawalla joined Serum Institute in 2001 after graduating from the University of Westminster in London.
In 2011, he became the CEO of Serum Institute of India with full control of day-to-day operations of the company.
He is married to Natasha Poonawalla in 2006. Interestingly, the duo met at Vijay Mallya’s New Year’s Eve party in Goa.
The couple has two sons - Cyrus (who was named after Adar's father Cyrus Poonawalla) and Darius.