Novavax Inc, a US-based vaccine development company, is acquiring Czech Republic-based Praha Vaccines, a subsidiary of the biggest global vaccine maker in terms of volume, Serum Institute of India, for $167 million as it aims to roll out 1 billion doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in 2021.
The American company is among the few racing towards the development of a vaccine for COVID-19, the disease that has infected 5.8 million and killed 357,000 people across the world.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 10 experimental vaccines are currently being tested on humans, including the Novavax’s candidate vaccine, NVX‑CoV2373.
While health experts have predicted that the vaccine for COVID-19 will take 12 to 18 months to develop, political leaders worldwide are seeing vaccines as the only way to restore disrupted economic activity after months of strict lockdown restrictions.
Last week, the US inked an agreement worth $1.2 billion with the UK based medical firm, AstraZeneca, and secured a third of the first 1 billion doses planned for the latter’s candidate vaccine for COVID-19.
Via: New York Times
