Poonawalla is chairman of the Serum Institute of India, the world's biggest vaccine manufacturer by number of doses produced and sold. His other assets include stud farms and properties in the Indian cities of Mumbai and Pune.
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The majority of Poonawalla's fortune is derived from closely held Serum Institute of India, the vaccine maker he founded in 1966 that is the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by number of doses produced and sold globally, according to its website.
The company reported revenue of 59 billion rupees ($840 million), and net income of 23 billion rupees in the year ended March 31, 2019, according financial results provided by Poonawalla. Poonawalla said he owns all of the business.
It is valued using reported financial results and the average price-to-earnings multiple of five publicly traded peers: Aurobindo Pharma Ltd, Divi's Laboratories Ltd, Biocon Ltd, Cipla Ltd/India and Cadila Healthcare Ltd.
He also said he owns stud farms, about 250 acres of land and properties, and homes in Mumbai and Pune. Valuations for these assets were provided by Poonawalla in a signed letter.
Poonawalla started Serum Institute in 1966 in Pune, India, by raising $12,000 selling horses and borrowing the rest from his father, one of the pioneers of thoroughbred breeding in the country. The closely held group supplies low-priced vaccines for immunizations.
Before founding Serum Institute, Poonawalla had considered making race cars. At age 20, Poonawalla and his friend built a $120 prototype sports car modeled on the Jaguar D-Type. He abandoned the idea when he realized that its commercial production would require a huge investment.
A veterinary expert at the family's stud farm suggested Poonawalla take up vaccine manufacturing. The family farm's retired horses were already being donated to the government-owned Haffkine Institute in Mumbai, which made vaccines from horse serum.
In 1966, Poonawalla founded Serum Institute of India and released its therapeutic anti-tetanus serum within two years. The group introduced a vaccine to protect children from diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis in 1974, and a serum for snake bites in 1981.
Serum Institute began production of the Measles Vaccine M-Vac in 1989 and within a year had become the country's largest vaccine maker.
Serum Institute was accredited by the World Health Organization in 1994 to export vaccines from India and started supplying to United Nations agencies, including the United Nations Children's Fund. The Indian company bought Dutch government-run vaccine maker Bilthoven Biologicals in 2012 in its first overseas acquisition. Serum Institute has used the purchase to add the injectable form of polio inoculation to the oral drops the company supplies to organizations.
Poonawalla's wife, Villo, died at age 67 in June 2010. His only son, Adar, is the chief executive officer of Serum Institute.