Krishnamurthy Ella – the man behind developing the covid 19 vaccine, Covaxin was born in 1969 in an agricultural family to middle class parents. No one could have imagined his trajectory. Perhaps because of his background, Krishna wanted to study agriculture. His father wasn’t pleased - he told his son “Nobody becomes a farmer by just studying agriculture” . Unfazed, Krishna joined University of Agricultural sciences in Bangalore. His passion and hardwork earned him a gold medal. Unlike “ordinary” gold medalists, he wasn’t content to get a job. Nevertheless he supported himself after undergrad by working briefly in the agricultural division of Bayer Pharma. He longed for more. He got a rotary scholarship which enabled him to move to the US, to do his PhD in University of Wisconsin. The scholarship was the wind under his wings. There was no looking back. His speciality was molecular biology.



While in the US, he met Suchitra, an economics graduate and married her. Average Indians in the US would dream of a green card for themselves and Dr Krishna dreamt for millions of people - freedom from diseases. His solution - low cost vaccine for neglected diseases. He wanted his dreams to become reality in India. He started Bharat Biotech in Hyderabad in the newly formed Genome Valley. The first product was caesium free Hepatitis B vaccine - the first in the world. His work caught the attention of Bill & Melinda Gates foundation - whose funds enabled Bharat Biotech to develop Rotavirus vaccine and conjugate Typhoid vaccine - again for the first time in the world. We salute this great man for his innovation and saving millions of lives from the deadly virus.

'Covaxin' saving precious lives- let's know about the man behind the Vaccine.