Gritstone Bio Clinches $433 Million Contract for Covid Shot (1)

Gritstone Bio Inc. will receive as much as $433 million from the US government to conduct a trial of its next-generation Covid-19 vaccine, a much-needed boost for the company struggling to find funds.

Gritstone, based near San Francisco, has been working on a new Covid shot since at least 2021, but progress stalled as the small biotech struggled to find a partner. Project NextGen, a government initiative to advance Covid treatments and vaccines that recently doled out millions of dollars to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Johnson & Johnson for similar efforts, will fund the company’s 10,000-person study.

The effectiveness ...