French company Valneva has received European Commission (EC) approval for an agreement to supply the company’s inactivated Covid-19 vaccine candidate, VLA2001.
Under the terms of the deal, the company will supply up to 60 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate over two years.
VLA2001 comprises inactivated whole SARS-CoV-2 virus particles with high density of S-protein, together with two adjuvants, alum and CpG 1018.
It can be used for active immunisation of at-risk populations for the prevention of Covid-19 infection.
The contract will allow all European Union (EU) Member States to acquire approximately 27 million vaccine doses next year.
Additionally, the Member States will have an option to order up to 33 million extra doses in 2023 along with the possibility to adapt the vaccine to new variant strains.
Valneva stated that the contract with the EC will conclude after a final review which also includes the vaccine volumes needed by each of the Member States.
The vaccine delivery is expected to commence in April next year, subject to human medicines committee (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) approval.
CHMP is expected to begin a rolling review of the vaccine in the coming days.
Last month, the company reported positive data from the pivotal Phase III trial of the Covid-19 vaccine candidate.
Valneva CEO Thomas Lingelbach said: “We are deeply committed to bringing an alternative vaccine solution to the market as quickly as possible and continue to work tirelessly to achieve that.
“Our Phase III results confirmed the advantages often associated with inactivated vaccines and we continue to believe that our differentiated vaccine candidate could make an important contribution to the global fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.”