Serum Institute to set up new manufacturing facility in Pune

Vaccines major Serum Institute of India will invest around Rs. 1,000 crore in the next three years to set up a new manufacturing facility in Pune.

“We will be investing around Rs. 1,000 crore in Pune to set up a vaccine manufacturing plant,” Serum Institute of India CEO and Executive Director Adar C Poonawalla told PTI.

The company will be making vaccines for pneumonia, rotavirus, dengue and many other diseases in the plant, he added.

Serum Institute of India is the world’s fifth largest vaccine manufacturer by volume with an installed capacity of over 1 billion doses of different vaccines annually. It currently has two manufacturing plants in Pune and the Netherlands.

When asked how the company plans to fund the expansion, Poonawala said: “It will be through internal accruals. We don’t believe in taking much debt to fund growth and expansion. That is why our focus is on organic growth and small acquisitions.”

Apart from expanding in Pune, he said the company will also be looking to boost manufacturing in the Nertherlands.

“In addition, we are also expanding our Netherlands facility. The investment for the acquisition and expansion of the Bilthoven Biologicals cumulatively over last two years will be around 200 million Euros,” Poonawalla said.

This acquisition took place in 2012 and it will play a major role in eradication of polio globally. The takeover also provides an important manufacturing base in Europe, with access to strategic European markets, he added.

The takeover ensures access to technology and expertise for making the IPV (Injectable Polio Vaccine), earlier possessed by only three other vaccine manufacturers, Poonawalla said.

Serum Institute claims that one out of every two children immunised worldwide gets at least one vaccine produced by it.

On being asked if Poonawalla Group is looking at selling their stake in Orchid Chemicals, he said: “We are wanting to sell the stake if we get a right price for our stake.”

Founded in 1966, Serum Institute of India is a leading producer of diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, BCG, r-hepatitis B, measles, mumps and rubella vaccines. The company is also one of the largest suppliers of vaccines to over 140 countries. PTI