BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission has abandoned almost its entire order for 60 million doses of a new COVID-19 vaccine from French company Valneva, the EU executive said on Wednesday, in a resolution that virtually cancels the delivery of the vaccine to the company.
The EU agreed in November last year to buy the vaccine, and the first 27 million doses will be delivered this year, but the vaccine was only approved last month after prolonged delays.
European countries are now doing well with other vaccines and vaccination programs have slowed down.
Under the revised agreement, European countries will now acquire 1. 25 million doses of Valneva, which will be delivered in August and September, with the option to acquire another 1. 25 million by the end of this year.
“The volume of orders reflects the interest we see among European citizens,” Valneva Chief Executive Thomas Lingelbach said in a statement.
Rx Securities analyst Samir Devani, who in the past had forecast 400 million euros ($407. 96 million) in COVID vaccine sales for Valneva, largely based on the initial EU contract, reversed the price of the injection when the company revealed last month that the contract was in jeopardy.
On Wednesday, he said Valneva will most likely use the vaccine’s existing stockpile, VLA2001, to fulfill the EU’s smaller order.
The company has suspended production for the time being and said it will only invest more in the vaccine and its second-generation COVID-19 vaccine if agreements are reached with other consumers throughout the investment in the coming months.
Britain cancelled its Valneva vaccine contract last year. The company also received approvals in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
It will be very difficult for Valneva to have a production line for VLA2001 without further orders, Devani added.
Valneva’s vaccine uses a generation that has already been used for decades in vaccines against polio, flu and hepatitis.
The company had bet that it would attract other people who had turned down COVID vaccines that were used by a newer generation, such as mRNA. But Novavax’s vaccine, which also uses the classic generation, has had limited adoption in Europe.
The continent is now grappling with a new wave of COVID-19 led through subsidiary Omicron BA. 5. Nearly 3 million new ones were reported in Europe last week and hospitalization rates doubled, Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, said on Tuesday.
Health officials said elderly and vulnerable populations get a momentary booster dose of the vaccine.
Meanwhile, European regulators have started with variant-specific vaccines that may be in a position later this year. (Reporting via Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio Editing via Foo Yun Chee and Peter Graff)
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