US President Donald Trump has reportedly offered a German company ‘one billion dollars’ for exclusive access to a coronavirus vaccine.

Germany has said they will defend themselves against an alleged attempt by the US government to seek exclusive rights to a vaccine by company CureVac.

CureVac is currently working on a coronavirus vaccine in tandem with the Paul-Ehrlich Institute, which is linked to the German health ministry.

The alleged offer by Trump to secure the vaccine only for the US was reported in German newspaper Welt am Sonntag on Sunday.

The German interior minister Horst Seehofer has confirmed the story as true: ‘I can only say that I have heard several times today from government officials today that this is the case, and we will be discussing it in the crisis committee tomorrow.’

Other government ministers have now hit out at the US with the German economy minister stating that ‘Germany is not for sale’.

‘German researchers play a leading role in drug and vaccine development and we cannot allow others to seek exclusive results,’ German Minister for Foreign Affairs, Heiko Maas said in an interview with Funke.

The US has now stated that the original report was ‘wildly overplayed’.

‘The US government has spoken with many (more than 25) companies that claim they can help with a vaccine. Most of these companies already received seed funding from US investors,’ a US official said.

In a statement, CureVac have refused to comment and rejected ‘allegations about offers for the acquisition of the company or its technology’.

The company’s investors have confirmed they would not sell the vaccine to a single state.

‘If we are successful in developing an effective vaccine, then it should help and protect people across the world.’