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WHy does the NIH select companies like Moderna and Novavax which are going out of business to make these 'Covid shots'? Charity? Will some companies 'play ball' to get those billions if the alternative is the failure of the business?

The long shot [Novavax Covid Vaccine]
sciencemag.org ^ | 06 Nov 2020: | Meredith Wadman

Posted on 6/15/2021, 11:38:33 PM by ransomnote

SNIP

Eighteen months ago, a small vaccinemaker here called Novavax faced an existential threat: delisting by the NASDAQ stock index. On the heels of a second failed vaccine trial in less than 3 years, the firm's shares had plunged to less than $1 for 30 straight days, triggering a warning by NASDAQ. Frantic to conserve cash, the company sold its two Maryland manufacturing facilities, slicing its payroll by more than 100 employees. By January, it employed only 166 people.

“Good ideas. Bad management. … The company will probably die soon,” a former Novavax manager wrote on Glassdoor.com in October 2019.

What a difference a year—and a pandemic—make. Today, Novavax is slated to receive up to $2 billion from the U.S. government and a nonprofit organization to develop and manufacture a coronavirus vaccine.

SNIP

Novavax's vaccine is made of tiny particles studded with the coronavirus spike protein plus honeycomblike molecules, derived from plants, that stimulate the immune system.

Image of Novavax's tiny particles studded with coronavirus spike proteins