Maryland-Based Novavax Reaches Agreement For European Commission For Up To 200 Million COVID-19 Vaccine Doses
GAITHERSBURG, Md. (WJZ) -- Novavax, a biotechnology company based in Gaithersburg, announced Wednesday it has finalized an advanced purchase agreement with the European Commission for up to 200 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine.
The agreement covers the purchase of up to 100 million doses of the vaccine with the option of another 100 million doses through 2023, the company said. Novavax did not disclose the value of the purchase.
Novavax reported 90.4% overall efficacy in its Phase 3 clinical trial in the United States and Mexico. In its Phase 3 trials in the United Kingdom, the company reported 89.7% efficacy with 96% efficacy against the original COVID-19 strain.
"As new coronavirus variants are spreading in Europe and around the world, this new contract with a company that is already testing its vaccine successfully against these variants is an additional safeguard for the protection of our population. It further strengthens our broad vaccine portfolio, to the benefit of Europeans and our partners worldwide," Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said in a statement.
The vaccine, named NVX-CoV2373, is a protein-based vaccine candidate engineered from the genetic sequence of the first strain of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease, company officials said.
"We thank the European Commission for their partnership in this important step to expand vaccine options for the citizens of Europe and globally as we work to bring the first COVID-19 protein subunit vaccine to the market," said Stanley Erck, Novavax's president and CEO. "With clinical data from our trials showing strong efficacy against Variants of Concern and Variants of Interest, we believe that our vaccine candidate will play a critical role in the effort to help control the pandemic in the EU and other regions in the world."
The Novavax vaccine is not approved for use in the United States.