The Novavax vaccine is currently in intermediate stage (representative) trials
US drug developer Novavax said on Tuesday it was doubling its potential COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing capacity to two billion doses annually under an agreement with the Serum Institute of India, which would increase its shares around 7 %.
In August, Novavax signed an agreement with the Serum Institute, the world’s largest vaccine producer, to produce a minimum of 1 billion doses of its candidate vaccine, when approved, for low- and middle-income countries and India.
As part of the expanded agreement, the Serum Institute will also manufacture the antigen component of the vaccine, dubbed NVX-CoV2373, which Novavax says will increase its manufacturing capacity to more than two billion doses by mid-2021.
Novavax’s vaccine is currently in intermediate-stage trials after an early-stage study showed it produced high levels of antibodies against the new coronavirus. The company plans to begin late-stage testing in the third quarter.
Last month Novavax said it will supply 60 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine candidate to the UK from the first quarter of 2021.
The company is also preparing to deliver 100 million doses to the United States in January after it was awarded $ 1.6 billion for its potential vaccine, and has also signed supply agreements with Canada and Japan.
Other drug makers like Pfizer and Moderna have already started large late-stage studies of their experimental vaccines.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
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