Novavax To Supply 60 Mln Doses Of COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate To U.K.

(RTTNews) - Novavax Inc. (NVAX) said that it has signed an agreement with the U.K. government to supply 60 million doses of the company's COVID-19 vaccine candidate, NVXCoV2373, beginning as early as the first quarter of 2021.

Novavax and the government will collaborate on a Phase 3 clinical trial in UK to assess the efficacy of the vaccine in the UK population, the company said in a statement.

The Phase 3 clinical trial will be a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled efficacy study in about 9,000 adults 18-85 years of age in the UK. The trial is expected to begin in the third quarter of this year, with the UK government supporting and providing infrastructure to Novavax in the execution of the trial.

In addition, Novavax said it will expand its collaboration with FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, which will manufacture the antigen component of NVX-CoV2373 from its Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees site in the UK, in addition to its sites in North Carolina and Texas in the United States.

The FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies site in the UK is expected to produce up to 180 million doses annually, which further boosts the global supply of NVX-CoV2373 for additional markets.