Novavax, Fujifilm Diosynth Biotech Announce Deal For Large Scale Manufacturing Of COVID-19 Vaccine

(RTTNews) - Biotechnology company Novavax Inc. (NVAX) has signed a deal with Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, a contract development and manufacturing organization, to manufacture bulk drug substance for NVX-CoV2373, Novavax' COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

FDB's site in Morrisville, North Carolina has begun production of the first batch of NVX-CoV2373.

This arrangement falls under Novavax' recent $1.6 billion award by the federal government as part of Operation Warp Speed, a U.S. government program that aims to begin delivering millions of doses of a safe, effective vaccine for COVID-19 to the U.S. population.

The OWS funding is being used by Novavax to complete late-stage clinical development, including a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial; establish large-scale manufacturing; and deliver 100 million doses of NVX-CoV2373 beginning as early as late 2020.

NVX-CoV2373 consists of a stable, prefusion protein made using Novavax' proprietary nanoparticle technology and includes Novavax' proprietary Matrix-M adjuvant.