Novavax To Supply 60M Coronavirus Vaccine Doses To UK Under New Deal

Novavax, Inc NVAX announced Friday it has reached terms with the government of the United Kingdom to supply 60 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine, subject to success of pending clinical trials.

What Happened

The Maryland-based company will supply the U.K. with its NVX-CoV2373 vaccine for an undisclosed amount. In turn, the U.K. government will support the drug’s Phase 3 human trials in the country, the biotechnology company said in a statement.

Novavax is also expanding its collaboration with Fujifilm Holdings Corporation FUJIF unit FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, which will manufacture the antigen for the vaccine at its Stockton-on-Tees facility in the U.K., as well as in North Carolina and Texas.

Why It Matters

Global efforts to secure vaccines have begun to make headway. Last month, the U.K. inked a deal with GlaxoSmithKline plc GSK and Sanofi SA SNY to supply it with 60 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine. 

Moderna Inc. MRNA said this week it would supply 100 million doses to the U.S. government, if the vaccine is approved for use against COVID-19.

British drugmaker AstraZeneca plc AZN agreed to let Mexico and Argentina make and supply its vaccine candidate to Latin American countries with the exception of Brazil this week. 

Indian vaccine maker Serum Institute Of India Pvt. Ltd. reached a deal with AstraZeneca and Novavax to supply their COVID-19 vaccines to middle and low-income countries this month. 

Russia meanwhile claims its “Sputnik V” vaccine is safe for immediate use, although experts disagree on whether it has gone through all the necessary trials.

Price Action 

Novavax shares closed nearly 7.1% higher at $133.28 on Thursday and rose almost 1.7% in the after-hours session.