A Gaithersburg, Maryland, biotech company this week reached a tentative agreement with Canada to supply up to 76 million doses of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine.
Novavax announced the agreement Monday and currently has two deals with the U.S. for its NVX-CoV2373 vaccine, which is undergoing multiple phase two clinical trials.
“We are pleased to work with the Canadian government on supply of our COVID-19 vaccine, an essential step to ensure broad access of our vaccine candidate,” said Stanley Erck, Novavax president and CEO. “We are moving forward with clinical development of NVX-CoV2373 with a strong sense of urgency in our quest to deliver a vaccine to protect the world.”
Novavax and Canada anticipate finalizing an advance purchase agreement under which the biotech company supplies doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to the country beginning the second quarter of next year.
Anita Anand, minister of public services and procurement for the Government of Canada, said the agreement is an “important step in our government’s efforts to secure a vaccine to keep Canadians safe and healthy,” according to a press statement Monday.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded Novavax $1.6 billion to develop its coronavirus vaccine and to ramp up manufacturing as part of Operation Warp Speed. The deal requires Novavax to produce 100 million doses to be distributed by the federal government. The Department of Defense also gave Novavax an additional $70 million to deliver 10 million vaccine doses for the armed forces.
Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine is also undergoing clinical trials in Australia and South Africa. The company is also now testing the vaccine in older adults ages 60 to 84 years old.
• Shen Wu Tan can be reached at stan@washingtontimes.com.
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