UK Lines Up COVID-19 Vaccine Supply Deals With Novavax, J&J

The UK government is set to purchase 90 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from Novavax and Johnson & Johnson.

Under the agreements, the government will purchase 60 million doses of Novavax’s NVX-CoV2373 and 30 million doses of J&J’s Ad26.COV2.S. The deal with J&J includes an option to purchase an additional 22 million doses.

The Novavax and J&J vaccines could be delivered in mid-2021 if they prove safe and effective, the government said.

In addition, the government will support a phase 3 trial of Novavax’s NVX-CoV2373 in approximately 9,000 adults in the UK. That trial is expected to begin this quarter.

The UK government is also supporting a global phase 3 trial of a two-dose regimen of J&J’s Ad26.COV2.S.

The UK previously secured 60 million doses of Sanofi’s and GlaxoSmithKline’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate in July (DID, July 30). It also entered into agreements for 30 million doses of COVID vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and potentially up to 100 million doses from both Valneva and AstraZeneca (DID, July 21).

Maryland-based Novavax said it will expand its manufacturing partnership with Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, which will manufacture the antigen component of its vaccine at its UK facility in Stockton-on-Tees. The site is expected to produce up to 180 million doses of the vaccine annually. — Jordan Williams