Valneva announces major COVID-19 vaccine partnership with UK government

Two-dose vaccine candidate scheduled to enter first clinical studies in December 2020

Today, Valneva has announced a vaccine partnership with the UK government. Valneva, a specialty vaccine company focused on the prevention of diseases with major unmet needs, will supply 60 million doses of its inactivated COVID-19 vaccine, VLA2001, if vaccine development is successful.

The vaccine is expected to have a two-dose regimen.

The deal is worth €470 million and includes options to supply another 130 million doses between 2022 and 2025.

The agreement allows for 60 million doses to be supplied by Valneva to the UK government in the second half of next year, if vaccine development is successful.

In addition, there are options for over 40 million doses to be supplied to the UK government in 2022, with a further option for another 30 million to 90 million doses, in aggregate, to be supplied across 2023 to 2025.

Total revenue from these options is estimated to be in the region of almost €900 million.

Valneva is using a proven approach as the base for its vaccine candidate, VLA2001. The existing manufacturing platform the company is using for its US FDA and EMA approved Japanese Encephalitis (JE) vaccine will be levaraged for VLA2001.

It is expected that the vaccine candidate will enter clinical studies at the end of this year. If successful, the proposed timeline for a possible first regulatory approval is the second half of 2021.

Thomas Lingelbach, CEO of Valneva, commented: “We are honoured to have been chosen by the UK government and are eager to partner with them to address this ongoing pandemic.”

Alok Sharma, UK Business Secretary, said: “This new agreement could help us vaccinate millions of people across the country, as well as help create a UK vaccine manufacturing facility to speed up access to a potential Covid-19 candidate and boost the country’s resilience against future pandemics.”

There is already an agreement in principle between the UK government and Valneva to supply vaccine doses, as well as a binding preliminary agreement to support expansion of the company’s UK-based manufacturing facilities.