Vaccine industry regains its luster for investors

With Novartis poised to win control of Chiron on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal takes a look at the sudden popularity of the vaccine business. Long considered a marginal endeavor, new fears of a possible pandemic have boosted government spending and helped make vaccine makers look more attractive than ever. Also driving this trend are new technologies that promise to make manufacturing vaccines much less complex. New investments should help avert any repeats of Chiron's debacle two years ago when UK regulators forced the company to temporarily shut its UK facility.

- here's the Wall Street Journal report on vaccines (sub. req.)

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