'Our sort of moment': Indian billionaires bet big in Covid-19 vaccine race

Serum Institute, the world's largest vaccine producer, has announced a plan to make hundreds of millions of doses of an unproven inoculation. 'I hope we don't go in too deep,' says CEO Adar Poonawalla

In early May, an extremely well-sealed steel box arrived at the cold room of the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine maker.

Inside, packed in dry ice, sat a tiny 1-milliliter vial from Oxford, England, containing the cellular material for one of the world’s most promising coronavirus vaccines.

Scientists in white lab coats brought the vial to Building 14, carefully poured the contents into a flask, added a medium of vitamins and sugar and began growing billions of cells. Thus began one of the biggest gambles yet in the quest to find the vaccine that will bring the