Novavax Awarded $1.6 Billion to Develop US COVID-19 Vaccine – Voice of America

The U.S. government has awarded a $1.6 billion contract to Novavax, Inc. to develop a coronavirus vaccine.

The award to the Maryland-based company is the largest to date from the governments Operation Warp Speed initiative to fast-track the development of vaccines and other treatments for COVID-19.Chief Executive Stanley Erck said the company aims to begin delivering 100 million doses of a vaccine in the fourth quarter of this year, an endeavor he said that may be completed by January or February of next year.

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Clinical trials are due to start in September and Sanofi has said it expects to get approval by the first half of next year, sooner than previously anticipated

The U.S. Health and Human Services Department and the Defense Department said in a joint statement that because the federal government funded the initiative, they will own the 100 million doses of investigational vaccine expected to result from the demonstration projects.

The award was granted as the number of new infections are surging in the U.S., the world leader in infections and fatalities, prompting a growing number of states and cities to reimpose lockdown measures.

The countrys preeminent infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, warned in an interview Monday the U.S. is still knee-deep in the first wave of this pandemic.

Novavaxs stock price soared in premarket trading on the news it had received the government funding.

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Novavax Awarded $1.6 Billion to Develop US COVID-19 Vaccine - Voice of America