U.S. will pay $1.6 billion to Novavax for coronavirus vaccine

Jul 08, 20200

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/afp – Tns - Tns count

Dr. Sonia Macieiewski, right, and Dr. Nita Patel, Director of Antibody discovery and Vaccine development, look at a sample of a respiratory virus at Novavax labs in Rockville, Md. on March 20, 2020, one of the labs developing a vaccine for the coronavirus, COVID-19.

The federal government will pay vaccine-maker Novavax $1.6 billion to expedite the development of a coronavirus vaccine. It is the largest deal to date from Operation Warp Speed, the sprawling federal effort to make coronavirus vaccines and treatments available to the American public as quickly as possible.

The deal would pay for Novavax to produce 100 million doses of its new vaccine by the beginning of next year - if the vaccine is shown to be effective in clinical trials. That is a significant bet on Novavax, a Maryland company that has never brought a product to market.

With this deal, the federal government has now invested nearly $4 billion in companies pursuing vaccines but has provided little information about how Operation Warp Speed is spending money, which agencies the funding is coming from or how decisions are being made.

https://www.startribune.com/u-s-will-pay-1-6-billion-to-novavax-for-coronavirus-vaccine/571667252/