In a bold gesture he included the DTP's co-chairman, Ahmet Turk, among the opposition leaders whom he met.

ECONOMIST: Turkey and Barack Obama: Friends by the Bosporus | The

Encouraged, they introduced the DTP vaccine, which protects children from diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (still a top seller), followed by an anti-snake-venom serum for snakebites.

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Mr Erdogan, who has long shunned the largest Kurdish party, the Democratic Society (DTP), for being the PKK's political front, met its leader, Ahmet Turk, in early August.

ECONOMIST: Turkey and the Kurds

Moreover, any ban might just boost the DTP's popularity.

ECONOMIST: Turkey and the Kurds

One of the world's lowest-cost producers of vaccines, Serum produces a billion doses a year selling in 140 countries, excluding North America, Australia and the EU. It is the world's biggest maker of measles and DTP vaccines.

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But selling only in India and mainly to the government wasn't a very profitable business. (A DTP vaccine might sell for three cents a dose in India, as mandated by the government, but triple the price in the export market.) So Poonawalla shifted course.

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