Novavax Nabs $1.6 Billion Warp Speed Contract for COVID-19 Vaccine

The U.S. government has granted Novavax $1.6 billion to support manufacturing and clinical development of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate NVX- CoV2373.

The contract is the largest to date under Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s program aimed at developing an effective COVID-19 vaccine by year’s end.

Under the agreement, Novavax will produce 100 million doses, which the government will make available for clinical trial use or will distribute to the public at no cost if it is approved or granted an Emergency Use Authorization by the FDA.

The contract will also fund a phase 3 clinical trial of the vaccine in 30,000 participants, which is expected to begin in the fall.