Novavax Awarded $60 Million DOD Contract for COVID-19 Vaccine

The Department of Defense has awarded Novavax $60 million for the manufacturing of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate NVX-CoV2373.

Under the contract, the company will work with U.S.-based biologics contract development manufacturing organizations to manufacture the antigen and adjuvant components of the vaccine.

The funding also includes delivery of 10 million doses of the vaccine this year that can be used in phase 2/3 clinical trials or under Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA.

Stanley Erck, CEO of Maryland-based Novavax, said the award will allow the company to significantly expand its U.S. production capacity to provide vaccine support during the pandemic.

However, the Novavax vaccine was not among the top five vaccine candidates selected to advance through the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed (DID, June 4).

Novavax acquired Czech manufacturer Praha Vaccines for $167 million last month, which is expected to provide an annual capacity of more than 1 billion doses of antigen for NVX-CoV2373 starting in 2021 (DID, May 28).

The acquisition is supported by funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which has granted Novavax up to $388 million for clinical development of its vaccine candidate (DID, May 13).

Novavax is conducting a phase 1/2 clinical trial of the vaccine in Australia and is expected to deliver preliminary results next month. — Jordan Williams