# Adar Poonawalla

Adar Poonawalla (born 14 January 1981) is an Indian businessman. He is the chief executive officer of Serum Institute of India and Chairman of Poonawalla Fincorp. His father is Cyrus Poonawalla, founder of the Serum Institute of India.

## Personal life

Adar Poonawalla is the son of Cyrus Poonawala, a Parsi (Zoroastrian). He is married to Natasha Poonawalla and has two children. In December 2023, Poonawalla purchased the most expensive property in London worth Rs 1446 Crore.

## Education

Adar Poonawalla was educated at The Bishop's School (Pune) and at the St Edmund's School Canterbury followed by the University of Westminster.

## Career

Poonawalla joined the Serum Institute of India in 2001, after graduating from university. Then exporting its products to 35 countries, Poonawalla concentrated on the company's international market, new products license and getting pre-qualified by the World Health Organization for supply to United Nations Agencies including UNICEF and PAHO. As of 2015, he has helped the company export its products to over 140 countries; 85 percent of its revenues are from overseas.
In 2011, he became the CEO. In 2012, he played a major role in the acquisition of Bilthoven Biologicals, a Netherlands-based government vaccine manufacturing company. Poonawalla is a board member of the GAVI Alliance, the global vaccine alliance.
He initiated and launched Serum Institute's oral polio vaccine in 2014, which became a bestseller for the company. It was reported that he planned to expand the product portfolio to include vaccines for dengue, flu, and cervical cancer during the same year. Presently he is the CEO of Serum Institute of India.
On 31 May 2021, he was appointed as the chairman of Poonawalla Fincorp, after acquiring a 66% stake in the financial services company.
In 2024, he acquired a 50% stake in Dharma Productions for ₹1,000 crore.

## Threats demanding COVID-19 vaccines

In an interview with The Times, Poonawalla declared that he left India for London because of threats demanding COVID-19 vaccines. Poonawalla also said that he will start COVID vaccine production outside India, in addition to the ongoing production in India. He was provided with 'Y' category security by the Indian government as the threats were made public.

## Philanthropy

In 2020, Serum Institute of India announced that it would donate $66 million to the University of Oxford to fund the creation of the Poonawalla Vaccines Research Building.

## Awards

* In 2016, he was listed by GQ Magazine and awarded Philanthropist of the year.
* In 2017, he received Humanitarian Endeavour Award In Hall of Fame Awards 2017 and was also awarded as Indian of the Year in CSR Business Category on CNN-News18
* In 2018, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis presented the ET Edge Maharashtra Achievers Awards of Business Leader of the Year to Poonawala, he further received CNBC Asia's award for Corporate Social Responsibility in the same year
* In 2020, Poonawalla was included in a Fortune magazine's '40 Under 40' listing in the healthcare category.
* In 2021, Adar has been adjudged Entrepreneur of the Year by Economic Times for unparalleled contribution in fighting Covid-19 by successfully supplying huge quantities of Covishield in India and globally, a vaccine developed by Oxford-AstraZeneca and produced in India by Serum Institute.
* In 2021, Adar was included on the Time 100, Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.