Novavax snares $167M buyout to rapidly scale up COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing

In its pursuit of a COVID-19 vaccine, Novavax bagged a major cash infusion earlier this month thanks to a nearly $400 million grant from a global epidemic response fund. Now, Novavax has put some of those funds to good use in an effort to supercharge its manufacturing capacity.  

Novavax will fork over $167 million for Czech manufacturer Praha Vaccines and team up with vaccine giant Serum Institute of India in moves that will add capacity for 1 billion-plus doses per year of a potential COVID-19 shot, the drugmaker said Wednesday. 

As part of the acquisition, Maryland-based Novavax will pick up Praha’s 150,000-square-foot, 150-employee facility in Bohumil, Czech Republic. The “state-of-the-art ” plant is undergoing renovation and is outfitted for vaccine and biologics manufacturing.

The Praha buyout, funded with a $384 million grant from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), will bring Novavax’s vaccine manufacturing capacity above 1 billion doses by 2021.

The drugmaker will partner with the Serum Institute of India to scale production at the Praha site by the end of 2020 and will continue to build antigen production at multiple sites in the U.S. and Asia, Novavax said.

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