US honor for Poonawalla

"The Serum Institute has grown to (be) a major worldwide producer of vaccines, with over 675 million doses manufactured per year, now exported to 137 countries… supplying commodity vaccines which are used to immunize more than 50 percent of the children of the world,” said Dr Seth Berkley, president and chief executive officer of the International Aids Vaccine Initiative. Berkley was speaking on the occasion of the presentation ceremony in New York on June 29, 2005 when Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, chairman and managing director of Poona’s Serum Institute of India, was honored with the Sabin Humanitarian Award by the Albert B. Sabin Vaccine Institute, a public non-profit organization based in the U.S.

Poonawalla also received on behalf of the Serum Institute the Global Corporate Philanthropy Award for excellence in quality health­care and the philanthropic policy pursued by Serum Institute from its humble beginnings in 1966. "His company has mastered and epitomizes the goal of high volume/high quality at low cost. He has demonstrated that innovative developing countries are a force to be reckoned with globally,” Berkley stated.

In the fields of vaccinology and immunology, the Sabin Institute has for the past seven years annually honored executives and companies who have made significant contributions to global health. The Institute is dedicated to continuing the work of Dr Albert Sabin (the developer of the oral live virus polio vaccine) who envisioned the enormous potential of vaccines to prevent deadly diseases. Among the awardees this year was Larry King, host of CNN’s celebrated talk show "Larry King Live.”

Poonawalla expressed his gratitude for the support and assistance rendered to the Serum Institute by several United Nations and international agencies. "This award is a tribute to Serum Institute’s ‘philosophy of care’ and commitment to ‘health for all,’” Poonawalla stated. "Our aim and objective is to make available life saving serums to the masses of India at affordable prices. Our vaccines are available at prices which are within the reach of the common man. I hope to have the strength to pursue the same philanthropic policy whilst launching newer vaccines in the future.”