Organization: Serum Institute of India
CMD: Dr Cyrus Poonawalla
Bioscience Revenue: Rs 3,539 crore

Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's fifth largest vaccine manufacturer (by volume), is BioSpectrum-ABLE top company of the year by revenue. India's largest vaccine manufacturer has maintained it position of Numero Uno, by topping the charts again. SIL registered record revenue of `3,539 crore for the year ending March 31, 2015.
The Pune-based SII struck an important deal this year In an exclusive agreement, Serum tied up to market flu vaccine with another major drug maker Cipla. As per the deal, Serum will develop and manufacture the vaccine, while Cipla will exclusively market it in India.

More recently, the company has joined hands with the US based Visterra for the development, manufacture, and commercialization of VIS513 in the Indian subcontinent countries including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, and Sri Lanka. VIS513 is Visterra's humanized monoclonal antibody that was designed to bind and potently neutralize all four serotypes of dengue virus and was engineered using its innovative and proprietary Hierotope technology.
The company also launched fresh batches of H1N1 vaccine that aims to protect against H1N1 and influenza A & B in one intra nasal shot.
The vaccine major will be investing $160 million in setting up a new vaccine manufacturing facility in Pune, where it will be making vaccines for pneumonia, rotavirus, dengue, and many other diseases.

The company is also planning strategic acquisitions that support its vaccine base for expansion. Founded in 1966, SII is a leading producer of diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, BCG, r-hepatitis B, measles, mumps and rubella vaccines. The company supplies vaccines to over 140 countries. It is estimated that about 65 percent of the children in the world receive at least one vaccine manufactured by Serum.

Asia's largest vaccine maker, SII, has halted plans to sell a minority stake in the company. The company was in discussions to sell - up to 10 percent stake in the company about two months ago. SIL is valued close to $12 billion. The company is not looking at listing its shares on public exchanges in India.
Serum Institute recently announced that it is seeking fasttrack approval to launch a dengue treatment in India for which it purchased local rights from US biotech Visterra in September 2015. This will help SII become the first company in the world to launch a drug for the mosquitoborne illness.