India's Vaccine Producer Can Produce 3 Billion Doses Annually

According to a Bloomberg report, Serum Institute of India Pvt. (SII) is the world's largest vaccine manufacturer and currently has the capacity to produce 3 billion doses of vaccines annually.

However, it only sells around 1.5 billion doses yearly, including those for malaria and cervical cancer.

In an interview with Time, Adar Poonawalla, CEO of SII, said, "As countries increase their healthcare budgets, you're going to see a huge uptake of vaccines that can prevent many diseases. Vaccines have been proven to be the most efficient tool for prevention."

For example, when the World Health Organization awarded prequalification status to the SII's R21/Matrix-M™ malaria vaccine, it enabled a mass rollout that could reduce fatalities from the deadly mosquito-borne disease.

SII stated it intends to produce 100 million doses of R21 annually.

Created by the Jenner Institute of Oxford University and developed by SII, the R21/Matrix-M vaccine contains two key ingredients: the malaria-specific R21 antigen and Novavax AB’s saponin-based Matrix-M adjuvant to enhance the immune system response, increasing the magnitude and durability of the antibody response.

"The R21/Matrix-M™ vaccine is a vital new tool to help stop the devastating health and economic impact of malaria on nearly half of the world's population, including the tragic loss of 1,300 children every single day," said John C. Jacobs, President and Chief Executive Officer, Novavax, in a press release on May 20, 2024.

SII was recently included in Time's 100 Most Influential Companies in 2024 and was founded in 1966 by Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla.