A leading company focused on virtual transformation.
By Manas Mishra
(Reuters) – Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc is in talks with a dozen countries about agreements for its coronavirus vaccine, which is recently undergoing human testing, the company’s chief executive told Reuters on Thursday.
U.S.-based corporations talk to countries in Europe, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, as do several U.S. government agencies, Executive Director Joseph Payne said in an interview.
There are “about a dozen of us we’re talking to,” Payne said.
Arcturus recently began testing its vaccine in humans as a component of an early to medium-stage study, lagging behind rivals such as Moderna Inc and Pfizer Inc, who have begun late-stage trials of their experimental coronavirus vaccines.
The company signed a source agreement with Israel tuesday for the delivery of a first million doses, with the option to buy more doses, an agreement that may be worth $275 million, pending regulatory approval.
The company also earned $10 million from the Singapore government to expand its vaccine, which could first move to the country if the vaccine is approved.
Negotiations with other countries focus on two “levels,” Payne said: the number of doses in question and for clinical trials.
“If there are multiple doses, it’s a trading lever,” he said.
The other relates to the offer of clinical trials of the vaccine, which was administered to a first organization of participants in last week’s initial interim trial in Singapore.
“Some countries can provide us with help and help us fund or even help the clinical trial itself,” Payne said. “And if they do, we’re also willing to provide relief with the vaccine.”
(Report through Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Edited through Lisa Shumaker)