(Reuters) – US drug developer Novavax Inc said Friday that the UK would buy 60 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine candidate, NVX-CoV2373, for a phase 3 trial in the country.
The company and the UK government will work together to have the trial assess the effectiveness of the vaccine in the British population, Novavax said in a statement, but revealed the main monetary points about 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 reach drug brand agreements to reserve materials for experimental coronavirus vaccines, as the race to expand an effective vaccine succeeds in the latter 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 degrees of antibody in healthy volunteers after two doses than those discovered in patients with coVID-19 recovered and the vaccine in general “well tolerated”.
Reporting through Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing through Rashmi Aich
All quotes were delayed for at least 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of transactions and delays.
© 2020 Reuters. All rights are reserved.