Fire Breaks Out at India's COVID-19 Vaccine-Maker Serum Institute's New Plant, an Industrial Info Market Brief

A deadly fire broke out on Thursday at Serum Institute of India Private Limited's (SII) newly commissioned plant in Pune. The Manjri complex, where the fire occurred, is a few minutes' drive from the facility where the COVID-19 vaccine Covishield is produced.

At least five workers, including four men and a woman, died in the blaze, which gutted a block under construction in the complex. SII, the world's largest vaccine producer by volume, is manufacturing the Covishield vaccine, developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, in India. Later in the evening, a second but relatively a minor blaze occurred on the third floor of the same building. According to SII sources, both fires have been brought under control.

Covishield is one of the two COVID-19 vaccines that have been granted emergency use approval in India. Serum Institute Chief Executive Officer Adar Poonawalla has clarified that the fire will not impact Covishield production; however, the supply of Rotavirus vaccine from plant might be might be reduced by 30% to 40%. Future expansion plans and new product launches by the company also are likely to be impacted due to the incident.

Industrial Info's pharmaceutical-biotech database includes 1,002 plants in India with 4,518 functional management contacts. See SII's plants in India on the map below.