Novavax Bags $60 Mln DoD Contract For COVID-19 Vaccine

(RTTNews) - Late-stage biotech company Novavax Inc. (NVAX) announced Friday that it has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Department of Defense or DoD to manufacture COVID-19 vaccine candidate NVX-CoV2373.

Under the deal, the company would deliver 10 million doses to DoD in 2020 that could be used in Phase 2/3 clinical trials or under an Emergency Use Authorization or EUA if approved by the U.S. FDA.

NVX-CoV2373 consists of a stable, prefusion protein antigen made using its proprietary nanoparticle technology and includes Novavax' proprietary Matrix-M adjuvant.

JPEO-CRBND-EB through funding provided by the Defense Health Program, has agreed to fund up to $60 million to support Novavax in its production of several components of the vaccine that will be manufactured in the U.S.

As part of the contract, Novavax will work with a U.S.-based biologics contract development manufacturing organization or CDMO to manufacture the antigen component of NVX-CoV2373 for at least 10 million doses of vaccine.

Novavax will also collaborate with U.S.-based CDMOs to scale up production and manufacture of the Matrix-M adjuvant component of the vaccine.

Stanley Erck, President and Chief Executive Officer of Novavax, said, "Importantly, this award will allow Novavax to significantly expand its U.S. production capacity of NVX-CoV2373, a critical step in our ability to provide vaccine support to the COVID-19 pandemic."