In a bid to boost its global vaccine manufacturing abilities, Gaithersburg biotechnology firm Novavax has paid roughly $167 million to buy a biologics manufacturing plant in the Czech Republic.
The company paid cash for Praha Vaccines a.s., part of the Cyrus Poonawalla Group.
Novavax expects its newly acquired plant in Bohumil, Czech Republic to provide an annual capacity of over 1 billion doses of antigen for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate starting in 2021.
Image: In this photo released by Nucleus Network/ABC, technicians prepare for a clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, May 26, 2020, with hopes of releasing a proven vaccine this year. Novavax will inject 131 volunteers in the first phase of the trial testing the safety of the vaccine and looking for signs of its effectiveness. (Patrick Rocca/Nucleus Network/ABC via AP)