Indian entrepreneur’s stake in US vaccine company soars to Rs 400 crore | Economic Times

As global biotech companies lead the race to develop a vaccine for Covid-19, a few Indian businessmen are reaping the benefits of soaring stock prices of these companies.One of them is Rajiv Modi, CEO of Ahmedabad-based Cadila Pharmaceuticals, who is also a director on the board of Novavax Inc., the US biotech company that received $1.5 billion from the US government and additional funding of $388 million from the Norway government-backed Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness and Innovations.Modi owns over 400,000 shares of Novavax, which are currently worth $53.3 million (Rs 400 crore). That came as the company’s shares shot up over the past seven months, surging from $3.98 on December 31 to $133.93 on July 24.Novavax calls itself a late-stage biotechnology company. Its Covid-19 vaccine candidate was developed using the company’s recombinant nanoparticle technology and is expected to enhance the immune response and stimulate high levels of neutralising antibodies.The company bought a Czech manufacturing facility from the Serum Institute of India in May to scale up its vaccine production, besides conducting trials in Australia.Although Modi and Novavax have a relationship that goes back over a decade, it’s taken on a new dimension in the time of the Covid-19 vaccine race. Modi’s Cadila Pharmaceuticals and Novavax formed a joint venture called CPL Biologicals in 2009 to develop and manufacture vaccines, biological therapeutics and diagnostics in India using technology from both companies.An email sent to Cadila Pharmaceuticals about Modi’s stock holdings in Novavax and the possibility of its vaccine coming to India remained unanswered.Novavax has committed to supply doses of the vaccine – if successful – to middle- and low-income countries, although the details are not specific.Another Indian entity that’s seen its investment in US vaccine makers soar is Premji Investments, which holds stock in Moderna. The US company is expected to start phase 3 trials of its vaccine candidate this week.