The coronavirus-pandemic is reshaping the biotech industry: Investors are piling in to small, often unproven companies in hopes they can produce a vaccine in the coming months. Those companies in turn, are spending big to expand production facilities for vaccines that aren’t yet fully tested, nor certified. It’s a gamble for both investor and company and it reflects the urgency for a vaccine as well as the potential to make money. What’s beyond doubt is that thanks to hi-tech methods used by the likes of CureVac, research is moving faster than ever before. It used to take 10 to 15 years to get a vaccine to market. Now some companies have reached the clinical trial phase in a matter of months. Trusted institutions are expecting a breakthrough as early as next year. No other product in the world has a larger potential market. Many nations have already placed orders for hundreds of millions of doses. CureVac plans to produce a billion a year, if its vaccine comes to fruition. The question is whose will hit the market first.
Global vaccine race lets biotech companies’ value surge | DW News
