The business of biopharma

With revenues of Rs 950.95 crore in 2006, Dr Cyrus Poonawalla’s Serum Institute of India is at the top of the table of biopharma companies in India, reports the July 2007 issue of BioSpectrum, the magazine that specializes in ‘the business of biotech.’ The second and third on the list, Biocon and Panacea Biotec, posted revenues of Rs 728 crore and Rs 600 crore respectively. The Poona-based Serum Institute also heads the table of top 10 vaccine players, with multinationals like GlaxoSmithKline, Aventis and EliLilly ranked fifth, sixth and seventh respectively.

Poonawalla: heading top biopharma company

The Indian bio­pharma sector is export-driven. Over 61 percent of the total biopharma revenues were from exports,” the magazine analyzes, adding that in 2005, Serum Institute had recorded revenues of Rs 703 crore, marking a 35.27 percent increase in 2006. Serum International is No 17 on the list of top 20 biopharma companies, with revenues of Rs 42 crore, notes BioSpectrum.

The 2007 Forbes list of billionaires ranks 65-year-old Poonawalla at No 287 on its worldwide list. With a net worth of three billion dollars, the self-made man is the 14th richest Indian. (India now has 36 billionaires, including 14 newcomers, relegating Japan to the number two spot in Asia, after a 20-year reign.) Honing his expertise and experience at the Serum Institute is Cyrus’ son Adar whose lavish December 2006 wedding to Natasha Arora "made a statement of class and chic,” as per Citadel Pune, May 2007.