Germany buys company that can produce a vaccine against COVID-19

The investment comes as the Trump Administration is trying to persuade the German firm to move its research work to the United States. German officials are convinced that President Trump is trying to be the first to have the vaccine available and perhaps market it exclusively, in the United States alone.

Responding to these attempts, German Economy Minister Peter Altmayer (CDU) and Dietmar Hopp, cofounder CureVac, announced at a news conference Monday that the German government will acquire 23% of the company's shares.

With its investment in CureVac, the government is investing for the first time in a company in the innovative biotechnology sector. CureVac is active in developing cancer and antibodies therapies, as well as vaccines.

In Europe, the company is considered the leader in developing a vaccine for the Coronobrus. In May, the company published the first results of clinical trials, which provide hope for finding a vaccine.

Despite its direct investment, the government will have no impact on the enterprise's entrepreneurial decisions. Altmayer said that with this investment, the government wants to provide the company with financial security so that it can continue to work on finding a vaccine.

The chronobrus crisis has made the extraordinary importance of the biotechnology industry visible to patients, our society and the world,”, he said at the press conference.

According to Altmayer, the inclusion of the state is also “of particular importance in terms of international policy”, as results in finding a vaccine from this company are crucial for Germany and Europe.

In March, reports were made that the US government had also tried to buy the firm. According to the German newspaper “Die Welt”, Trump has offered the German company billions of dollars in exchange for exclusive access to the vaccine. The Trump administration has been extremely aggressive in trying to take control of companies looking for a vaccine, as Mr. Trump sees it as a pillar for American security.

In light of the global race to develop a vaccine, calls for the EU to buy and buy the vaccine have increased within the union in recent months.
“Investation at CureVac is the first step in this direction”, Altmaier said.

In early June, the health ministers of the Netherlands, France, Italy, and Germany had already formed a vaccine alliance aimed at supplying the EU with the choreography vaccine, possibly before the United States of America, if it is discovered by a European firm.

To that end, the four countries recently linked an agreement with the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, enabling them to order up to 400 million doses of a vaccine currently under way.

The European Commission is also expected in the coming days to receive a mandate from European governments to negotiate the purchase of coronary vaccines before it can be officially released, if necessary, to link contracts with pharmaceutical companies to secure supply, but also to reinforce company production capacity, providing millions of euros.

“CureVac” began researching a variety of different vaccines and is now choosing the best options from clinical trials. The company hopes that by July there will be an experimental vaccine that can be tested. ( Journal“Like”