Novavax partners with COVAX to facilitate equitable access of COVID-19 vaccine

Biotech News: Novavax, a biotechnology company developing next-generation vaccines for serious infectious diseases, today announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi), to provide 1.1 billion cumulative doses of NVX-CoV2373, Novavax’ recombinant protein-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate, for the COVAX Facility.

The vaccine doses will be manufactured and distributed globally by Novavax and Serum Institute of India (SII), the latter under an existing agreement between Gavi and SII. Novavax and Australian Government’s COVID-19 vaccine agreement was announced in November 2020.

NVX-CoV2373 is being studied in two ongoing pivotal Phase 3 clinical trials in the United States and Mexico, as well as in the United Kingdom (U.K.), for the prevention of COVID-19. Novavax has previously reported positive interim efficacy results from its U.K. trial.

COVAX is the vaccines pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, which is co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi, and the World Health Organisation (WHO), who are working in partnership with developed and developing country vaccine manufacturers, UNICEF, the World Bank, civil society organisations and others to guarantee fair and equitable access to the vaccine for every country in the world. COVAX currently includes more than 190 participating economies.

“We are proud to partner with all the COVAX collaborators and Serum Institute of India to provide global public health leadership and ensure that all countries have broad access to NVX-CoV2373,” said Stanley C. Erck, President and Chief Executive Officer of Novavax. “Novavax will play a critical role in the worldwide effort to provide access to safe and effective vaccines to end the pandemic.”

Gavi leads the design and implementation of the COVAX Facility and will work with Novavax to finalise an advance purchase agreement (APA) for vaccine supply and global distribution allocation via the COVAX Facility and its partners.

“This agreement brings the COVAX Facility one step closer to its goal of supplying vaccines globally and ending the acute phase of the pandemic,” said Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi. “It helps us close in on our goal of delivering two billion doses in 2021 and increases the range of vaccines available to us as we build a portfolio suitable for all settings and contexts.”

CEPI has provided critical support to Novavax, including the commitment of approximately $400 million to advance early clinical development and manufacturing scale-up in multiple facilities around the globe. Novavax has created a global supply network to ensure there can be adequate and equitable supply of NVX-CoV2373 across the globe. Consistent with its mission to increase global manufacturing capacity and ensure broad, equitable supply distribution, Novavax licensed its NVX-CoV2373 technology to SII with no upfront, milestone or technology transfer payments. With this strategic partnership in place, Novavax and SII are jointly committed to deliver 1.1 billion doses to the COVAX Facility. For supply of NVX-CoV2373 to COVAX, Novavax is expected to supply doses primarily to high-income countries (HICs), with SII providing the majority of supply for low-, middle, and upper-middle-income countries, (LMICs, UMICs), utilising a tiered pricing schedule.

“With this MOU in place, the vaccine candidate developed by our partners at Novavax is poised to play a significant role in combatting COVID-19 around the world,” said Dr. Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI. “CEPI’s investments in this vaccine have been pivotal to enabling equitable access to a significant volume of this vaccine through COVAX.”

“We are pleased to deepen our partnership with Novavax and COVAX to increase the doses of vaccine available to benefit humanity,” said Adar Poonawalla, Chief Executive Officer, Serum Institute of India.” This global collaboration is vital to ensure that the largest possible amount of vaccine is available to reach individuals across the broadest segment of countries.

NVX-CoV2373 was the first vaccine to demonstrate clinical efficacy against the original strain of COVID-19 and both of the rapidly emerging variants in the United Kingdom and South Africa.

It is shipped in a ready-to-use liquid formulation. Because it is stable at 2°C to 8°C (refrigerated), existing vaccine supply chain channels can be used for its distribution.