Valneva Shares Soar On Securing EU COVID-19 Vaccine Deal

Valneva SE VALN shares jumped more than 20% after winning approval from the European Commission for a deal.
Over two years, the Company would supply up to 60 million VLA2001 inactivated COVID-19 vaccine candidate doses.
It said last month that it demonstrated efficacy "at least as good, if not better" than AstraZeneca plc's AZN shot in a late-stage trial comparing the two, with significantly fewer adverse side effects.
The European Commission said the contract with Valneva allows EU member states to purchase nearly 27 million doses in 2022.
Member states can then make a further order of up to 33 million additional vaccines in 2023.
"We are grateful to the European Commission for its support and are eager to help address the ongoing pandemic," Valneva chief executive Thomas Lingelbach said in a statement.
VLA2001 consists of inactivated whole virus particles of SARS-CoV-2 with high S-protein density, in combination with two adjuvants, alum and Dynavax Technologies Corporation's DVAX CpG 1018.
Price Action: VALN shares are up 24.9% at $50.48, while DVAX shares are up 2.07% at $16.30 during the market session on the last check Wednesday.