FRANKFURT AM MAIN: Berlin will take a stake in German biotech company CureVac, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said Monday, months after reports the US was eyeing the firm and its under-development coronavirus vaccine.

The federal government will invest 300 million euros ($337 million) to take a 23-percent stake in CureVac, based in Tuebingen in southwest Germany. "We don't know wich company will bring the first workable vaccine to market," Altmaier told reporters in the capital. "But we know that CureVac is among those in the lead."