Serum Institute buys polio vaccine co in Czech for 72 million euros

Mumbai: Serum Institute of India today acquired the defunct unit in Czech of Florida-based Nanotherapeutics that makes injectable polio doses for 72 million euros.

The acquisition would catapult the Pune-based company to the largest injectable polio vaccine maker in the world with over 200 million doses, a senior official claimed.

The plant at Bohumil, which is one hour off the Czech Republic capital Prague, is not functional now and Serum Institute will have to invest an additional 30-40 million euros to make it functional, Serum Institute of India's Chief Executive Officer Adar C Poonawalla told .

Poonawalla said the company has already paid 45 million euros for the plant and the remaining will be paid one year later.

Serum Institute is the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by number of doses produced and sold globally.

"This acquisition will add to our injectable polio capacity by four times to a total of 200 million doses by 2019, making us the largest injectable (not oral) polio vaccine manufacturer in the world," Poonawalla said.

The current acquisition by the company is the second one overseas since 2012 when it bought a plant in Holland.