London, Dec 13 (IANS) India’s billionaire "vaccine prince" Adar Poonawalla has reached a deal for London’s most expensive home sale of the year, agreeing to pay about 138 mn pound for a 25,000 square foot Mayfair mansion, media reports said.

Aberconway House, a vast 1920s home near Hyde Park, will change hands after a sale was agreed by Dominika Kulczyk, daughter of the late businessman Jan Kulczyk, who was Poland’s richest man, Financial Times reported.

The property will be acquired by Serum Life Sciences, a UK subsidiary of the Poonawalla family’s Serum Institute of India, people familiar with the transaction said, it said.

The price tag makes Aberconway House the second-most expensive home ever sold in London and the biggest deal of the year, according to luxury property agents, Financial Times reported.

The top end of London’s property market is insulated from the impact of higher borrowing costs, which have slowed the wider UK housing market this year, because few buyers rely on mortgages.

Trophy properties in London have remained attractive to international buyers despite new transparency measures brought in to help target Russian money after the war in Ukraine, and the prospect of tax changes if the Labour party wins the next UK general election.

A person close to Serum Life Sciences said the Poonawalla family had "no plans" to move to the UK permanently, but that "the house will serve as a base for the company and family when they are in the UK". The London deal follows multimillion-pound investments in vaccine research and manufacturing facilities near Oxford, the person added, Financial Times reported.

The Centre of Excellence (CoE) is being set up for providing the community with a centralised location for information, resources, and support during times of public health emergencies. The centre will be staffed by experienced healthcare professionals and equipped with state-of-the-art technology and resources.

The facility will serve as a hub for public health education, outreach, and response efforts during outbreaks of infectious diseases. It will provide real-time information and updates on current epidemics, as well as offer resources and support for those who have been affected.

The discussion for setting up the Centre had started at Telangana Industry Minister K. T. Rama Rao's meeting with Adar Poonawalla, CEO - Serum Institute of India during the World Economic Forum in Davos in May 2022. The announcement of this centre was made after Rama Rao held a virtual meeting with Adar Poonawalla on Sunday.

"The opening of this Centre of Excellence in Infectious Diseases and Pandemic Preparedness marks a significant step forward in our efforts to protect the health and well-being of our community. By centralising our resources and expertise, we can ensure a quick and effective response to any public health emergency. Through this investment, I am delighted to welcome Serum Institute of India (SII), which is the largest vaccine manufacturer, to the city of Hyderabad that is regarded as the vaccine capital of the world," said Rama Rao.

Adar Poonawalla said that the Dr Cyrus Poonawalla CoE for Infectious Diseases and Pandemic Preparedness will offer a variety of services, including public health education and outreach, monitoring and tracking of infectious diseases, coordination of response efforts with local healthcare providers, provision of information and support for individuals and families affected by epidemic.

Prof Srinath Reddy, Indian Institute of Public Health Hyderabad, said that the CoE will help to strengthen India's capacity to anticipate, avert and attenuate pandemic threats through improved prevention, prediction, preparation and prompt response.

"Other infectious diseases of concern too will be addressed through a public health guided multi-sectoral response. PHFI welcomes this initiative that will place IIPH-Hyderabad at the frontline of infectious disease prevention and control," he said

The Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH-H) is one of five institutions established by the Public Health Foundation of (PHFI) across the country, to strengthen health systems for better planning and performance and also align multi-sectoral policies and programmes to public health objectives.

Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd. is the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by number of doses produced and sold globally (more than 1.5 billion doses) which includes Polio vaccine, Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Hib, BCG, r-Hepatitis B, Measles, Mumps, Rubella as well as Pneumococcal and Covid-19 vaccines.