Advertising
Supported by
By Reuters
(Reuters) – US drug developer Novavax Inc announced Friday that the UK would buy 60 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine candidate, NVX-CoV2373.
The company and the UK government will collaborate on a Phase 3 clinical trial to assess the effectiveness of the vaccine in the British population, Novavax said in a statement, but revealed the main monetary points of the agreement.
The trial will be approximately 9,000 adults between the ages of 18 and 85.
Novavax would marry Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies to manufacture the antigen of its COVID-19 candidate vaccine in the UK, he added.
The company is also preparing to deliver one hundred million doses to the United States through January after receiving $1.6 billion for canopy testing and production of its potential vaccine in the country.
Novavax has earned $2 billion in investment for its coronavirus vaccine to date, $384 million from the Coalition for Innovations in Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI).
Novavax will supply doses of NVX-CoV2373 to the UK in the first quarter of 2021, while the Phase 3 test is expected to begin in the third quarter of this year, the company said.
Diosynth Biotechnologies UK from Fujifilm is expected to produce about 180 million doses a year, he added.
The United States and the United Kingdom are rushing to participate in drug brand agreements to reserve experimental coronavirus vaccine materials, as the race to expand an effective vaccine reaches the final stages of testing.
Lately there is no approved vaccine for COVID-19, with more than 25 human applicants.
In an initial trial, Novavax candidate vaccine, NVX-CoV2373, produced higher levels of antibodies in healthy volunteers after two doses than those discovered in patients with recovered COVID-19 and the vaccine in general “well tolerated”.
(This story corrects the name and first paragraph to the reference to the Phase 3 trial)
(Kanishka Singh informs Bengaluru; edited through Rashmi Aich)
Advertising