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The vaccine prince.
May 8, 2021
India’s “vaccine prince” Adar Poonawalla rose to fame in 2020 when he became the only Indian billionaire to put his weight behind an international Covid-19 vaccine. But since then, he has made headlines for statements that are at times confusing and contradictory.
Poonawalla, CEO of the world’s largest vaccine manufacturing firm Serum Institute of India (SII), last year struck a deal with AstraZeneca to manufacture and stockpile its Covid-19 vaccine. These doses could be sold in India and to other countries under contracts with AstraZeneca. SII was also responsible for the India-specific bridging study for the shots to test its efficacy in the local population.