Local doesn't mean low cost: Serum Institute shares global scale-up plans

Already the largest manufacturer of vaccines in the world, the Serum Institute of India is looking to make itself globally indispensable with a new malaria vaccine launching by June and a critical role in a new venture to respond to future outbreaks in less than 100 days.

Even before COVID-19, Serum’s reach extended to nearly every corner of the world. It’s estimated that roughly two-thirds of the world’s children receive at least one Serum vaccine.

Then the company decided to gamble on producing COVID-19 immunizations — including the AstraZeneca vaccine — before they had even received regulatory approval. Once those authorizations were secured, Serum found itself at the epicenter of the response, including as a key supplier to the COVAX facility that was attempting to ensure that low- and middle-income countries weren’t completely left behind.