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Novavax's $167 million all-cash purchase of Praha Vaccines bought a 150,000-square-foot Czech manufacturing site meant to churn out over 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses annually starting 2021, but that scale-up thesis never materialized after the vaccine's commercial launch stalled. Novavax sold the same Bohumil facility to Novo Nordisk for $200 million in December 2024 as part of a cost-cutting pivot away from manufacturing.
Novavax announces ~$167 million all-cash acquisition of Praha Vaccines, adding a Czech manufacturing facility to reach more than one billion doses of antigen…
"The Praha acquisition gives Novavax the chance to manufacture its vaccine on a similar scale" to larger rivals like J&J and Sanofi — framed as a competitive…
[Neutral] Novavax Acquires Praha Vaccines — Novavax acquires Praha Vaccines expanding vaccine manufacturing capacity.
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Novavax acquired Praha Vaccines on May 27, 2020 for approximately $167 million in an all-cash transaction, gaining a 150,000-square-foot vaccine and biologics manufacturing facility in Bohumil, Czech Republic (BSL-3 capable, ~150 staff). The site was intended to provide annual capacity of over 1 billion doses of antigen from 2021 for Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine candidate NVX-CoV2373 (source: Novavax IR, 2020-05-27). The large-scale manufacturing thesis never fully materialized as the vaccine's commercial launch was delayed; on December 4, 2024 Novavax agreed to sell the same Bohumil facility (and its ~300 employees) to Novo Nordisk for $200 million, expected to close by December 30, 2024, as part of a cost-reduction pivot to a leaner partnering/platform model (source: BioPharm International / FiercePharma, Dec 2024).
$65.0B Global Vaccines (2024)
Praha Vaccines, a Novavax subsidiary involved in protein-based vaccine development.
Pfizer, Merck, GSK, Moderna, Sanofi dominate. Novavax offers protein subunit alternative.
Novavax agreed to sell the Bohumil, Czech Republic manufacturing facility acquired in this 2020 Praha Vaccines deal to Novo Nordisk for $200 million (announced 2024-12-04, expected close by 2024-12-30), realizing a modest gain over the ~$167M purchase price after the >1B-dose COVID manufacturing plan did not materialize.
| Deal | Year | Value | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Novavax Inc. / Praha Vaccines (this deal) | 2020 | $167M | 48 |
| Novavax Inc. / SK Bioscience Co., Ltd. | 2021 | $300M | — |
| Crucell N.V. / Berna Biotech AG | 2006 | $450M | 85 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH / Sanofi SA (Merial Animal Health) | 2015 | $12.4B | 81 |
| Pfizer Inc. / Baxter International Inc. (commercial vaccines portfolio) | 2014 | $635M | 77 |
| GSK plc / Affinivax Inc. | 2022 | $3.3B | 48 |
| Johnson & Johnson / Crucell N.V. | 2010 | $2.4B | 47 |
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More: 2020 deals · Vaccines deals