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OTTAWA – The newest manufacturer offering an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine option in Canada hopes to meet the government’s 2024 deadline to manufacture the vaccines domestically.
Maryland-based Novavax held a press conference Wednesday to tout the safety and efficacy of its updated vaccine, which targets newer strains of COVID-19.
The company also highlighted the importance of having an option for people who can’t or wouldn’t accept an mRNA shot.
The new formulas are awaiting approval through Health Canada.
The federal government has pledged to manufacture the Novavax vaccine in Canada at the National Research Council’s Biologics Manufacturing Centre in Montreal. To date, the facility has produced a single dose for use in patients.
The company’s Canadian director, Andrew Boston, said that lately it has been generating batches at its facilities.
“This will lead to what we expect to be a mass production of antigens in 2024,” Boston said at Wednesday’s press conference, which was held via video conference.
It will deal with other issues related to vaccine production.
This summer, Ottawa finalized its acquisition agreement with Novavax and now has the option to terminate the deal if the company is allowed to begin production at the plant until the end of 2024, according to documents filed with the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission. U. S.
The Biologics Manufacturing Center and Novavax expect “large-scale antigen production at BMC to begin in 2024,” Isabelle Caron, executive director of the nonprofit that now oversees the center, said in a statement.
The federal government invested $126 million in the design, structure, and commissioning of the Montreal site, which was completed in July 2021.
As of Sept. 10, just over 35,000 doses of the original Novavax vaccine have been administered in Canada, compared to 96 million doses of the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines.
Novavax is one of four brands offering COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in Canada.
Johnson’s Vaccines
“Canadians may not know that in Canada there are no other characteristics of vaccines, other than mRNA vaccines,” said Bruce Seet, chief medical officer at Novavax Canada.
“Therefore, Novavax’s protein-based vaccine represents the only mRNA-free vaccine option, something I think other people will want to be aware of. “
The use of the mRNA vaccine generation accelerated during the pandemic, and Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine was the first mRNA vaccine to gain regulatory approval.
As provinces prepare to roll out their vaccine booster campaigns this month, Seet said the government will ensure equitable access to the mRNA alternative.
It’s not yet clear how many updated vaccines Health Canada plans to order if it approves the vaccine for use in Canada.
Given the overall decline in demand for COVID-19 vaccines, Canada recently agreed to pay the company $350 million to cancel its previous order.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on October 4, 2023.
Laura Osman, The Canadian Press
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier edition indicated that the Canadian government could terminate its agreement with Novavax if the company began production at the biologics production site until the end of 2024.