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 corporation is among the few working to create a COVID-19 vaccine, the disease that has infected 5.8 million people worldwide and killed 357,000 people.
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According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at the moment 10 experimental vaccines are being tested on humans, including the candidate vaccine Novavax, NVX‐CoV2373.
While health experts have predicted the development of the COVID-19 vaccine will take 12 to 18 months, world leaders are seeing vaccines as the only way to restore disrupted economic activity after months of strict restrictions on lockdowns.
Last week, the US inked a $1.2 billion contract with UK-based drug company AstraZeneca and secured a third of the expected first 1 billion doses for the latter’s COVID-19 candidate vaccine.