In COVID-19 vaccine race, Hungarian village firm takes global role

Hungarian biologists Alexandra Torok and Noemi Lukacs check the purity of an antibody, a genetic sensor of sorts, manufactured by a small family company and sold to the largest pharmaceutical companies in the race for a coronavirus vaccine, in Szirak, Hungary, November 13, 2020. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo

SZIRAK, Hungary (Reuters) - In an unassuming house in rolling hills east of the Hungarian capital, a small family firm is helping oil the wheels of the world's big pharmaceutical companies on the path to a coronavirus vaccine.

Biologist Noemi Lukacs, 71, retired to Szirak, her birth village, to establish English & Scientific Consulting (SciCons) and manufacture a genetic sensor so sensitive that a few grams can supply the entire global industry for a year.