Dr. Sonia Macieiewski (R) and Dr. Nita Patel, director of vaccine discovery and development, looks at a sample of a respiratory virus at Novavax labs in Rockville, Maryland on March 20, 2020, one of the labs developing a vaccine for the coronavirus, COVID-19.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images
Novavax shares rose Friday after the company said it had reached a deal with the UK to deliver 60 million doses of its potential coronavirus vaccine.
Novavax has not disclosed the financial terms of the agreement. As part of the deal, the UK will work with the company on its Phase Three clinical trial, which is expected to begin this quarter. The potential vaccine, named NVX-CoV2373, will be tested on about 9,000 adults between the ages of 18 and 85, the company said.
Shares of the company were up more than 8% in premium trading.
“We are honored to work with the UK Government to deliver a vaccine that could provide vital protection in the fight against the global health crisis,” Stanley Erck, CEO of Novavax, said in a release Friday. “Our Phase 3 clinical trial in the UK will be a critical component in assessing the efficacy of NVX-CoV2373, which in a Phase 1 trial has already been shown to be generally well tolerated and robust antibody responses to to call. “
The company already has a deal with the U.S. government. Last month, Trump’s Operation Warp Speed initiative announced the announcement that Novavax would pay $ 1.6 billion to develop and produce the potential vaccine, with the goal of delivering 100 million doses by the beginning of next year.
The Novavax vaccine contains synthesized pieces of the surface protein that coronavirus uses to infect humans.
Last week, the company announced that its potential vaccine generated a promising immune response in an early-stage clinical trial with 131 healthy participants.
The vaccine produced neutralizing antibodies, which researchers believe are necessary to build immunity to the virus, and killer T cells, the company said. In addition, the vaccine appeared to be well tolerated without reporting any serious disadvantages.
Novavax is among several companies racing to develop a vaccine to fight the virus, which has infected more than 20.9 million people worldwide and killed at least 760,000 on Friday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. There are more than 150 vaccines worldwide in development, according to the World Health Organization, with at least 26 already in human trials.
Late last month, drug companies Pfizer and Moderna both announced that they were launching their late-stage tests for potential coronavirus vaccines. Those trials will involve about 30,000 participants.
Health officials expect to know if any of the vaccines under development will be safe and effective by the end of this year or early 2021.
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