Thread by @akannampilly

Inside the world's biggest vaccine manufacturer: @AFP visits the Serum Institute of India where technicians are hard at work, making sure developing countries have access to #Covid19 vaccines #video @SerumInstIndia @adarpoonawalla

Even before the pandemic, the Indian firm @SerumInstIndia was a world leader in vaccines, producing 1.5 billion doses a year and inoculating two out of three children in 170 countries against diseases such as polio, mumps, meningitis and measles. au.news.yahoo.com/inside-worlds-… @AFP

Its journey kicked off on a stud farm, where the firm's owners, the Poonawalla family, began breeding horses in 1946, before a conversation with a vet sparked the realisation that anti-toxin serum extracted from the animals could be used to make vaccines. au.news.yahoo.com/inside-worlds-…

The Serum Institute soon became a market leader thanks to its cheap and effective drugs, which were eagerly sought after by price-conscious governments and consumers, prompting the company to expand at a dizzying rate. @AFP au.news.yahoo.com/inside-worlds-…

As a result, when the coronavirus pandemic began to sweep across the world, the company, which recorded annual revenues of over $800 million in 2019-20 and is debt-free, was in pole position to produce huge numbers of vaccines & reap the rewards. au.news.yahoo.com/inside-worlds-… @AFP

From Brazil to South Africa, there is no shortage of customers. CEO @adarpoonawalla has vowed to reserve 50% of Covishield stocks for India and supply 200 million doses to Covax, a WHO-backed effort to procure and distribute inoculations to poor countries. au.news.yahoo.com/amphtml/inside…

If all this sounds overwhelming, the firm's bosses are not worried.
"We are used to these kinds of pressures," Suresh Jadhav, Serum Institute's executive director, told @AFP. au.news.yahoo.com/amphtml/inside…

Even a deadly fire at an under-construction building this week failed to dent confidence, with @adarpoonawalla promptly tweeting that "there would be no loss of #COVISHIELD production" because of it. @AFP au.news.yahoo.com/amphtml/inside…

The pandemic has transformed @adarpoonawalla's public profile, from a jet-setting billionaire known for his expensive taste in cars and fine art to a pharma-tycoon applauded for his willingness to take risks and his commitment to affordable vaccines. @AFP au.news.yahoo.com/amphtml/inside…

Unsurprisingly, the father-of-two has not held back from taking so-called anti-vaxxers to task, including berating US rapper Kanye West for spreading "irresponsible and borderline dangerous" conspiracy theories. @AFP au.news.yahoo.com/amphtml/inside…