The coronavirus pandemic continues to dominate the headlines. Unfortunately, coronavirus cases surpassed 11 million. Importantly, the U.S. government awarded hundreds of millions of dollars more precisely $1.6 billion to Novavax for its coronavirus vaccine.
For example, the company will use this money to cover testing, commercialization as well as manufacturing of a potential coronavirus vaccine in the U.S. with the aim of delivering 100 million doses by January 2021. Novavax and U.S. government
Thanks to this information, the shares of Novavax jumped more than 35% in the premarket.
Novavax and Operation Warp Speed
It is worth mentioning that, the award is the biggest yet from Operation Warp Speed. Importantly, the purpose of this program is to accelerate access to vaccines and treatments to tackle the causes of COVID-19. Authorities are trying to cope with the ongoing crisis, as the coronavirus is one of the major threats to the economy.
Importantly, funds provided by Operation Warp Speed will be used to cover the costs. For example, the Warp Speed award pays for the production of 100 million doses. Moreover, this program will also cover the cost of running a large Phase 3 trial. As a reminder, Phase 3 is the final stage of human testing. The trial could begin as early as October.
The U.S. government also invested $456 million in Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine candidate in March. Also, the government provided $486 million to Moderna in April. Interestingly, the U.S. government also provided support to various projects.
In May, the company received an additional $388 million in funding for the COVID-19 vaccine from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. Last month, the U.S Department of Defense decided to award $60 million to support the manufacturing of 10 million doses of its vaccine in 2020. By early 2021, Novavax expects to be able to make 50 million doses a month in the U.S.
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