Gaithersburg Company Awarded $1.6B To Develop COVID-19 Vaccine

GAITHERSBURG, MD — Novavax Inc., a late-stage biotechnology company based in Gaithersburg, has been awarded $1.6 billion by the federal government to expedite the development of a coronavirus vaccine.

The funds would cover the cost of producing 100 million doses of Novavax's vaccine candidate, which would be delivered by early in 2021. It's the biggest deal to date from "Operation Warp Speed," the White House's COVID-19 vaccine program.

"The pandemic has caused an unprecedented public health crisis, making it more important than ever that industry, government and funding entities join forces to defeat the novel coronavirus together," said Novavax President and CEO Stanley C. Erck. "We are honored to partner with Operation Warp Speed to move our vaccine candidate forward with extraordinary urgency in the quest to provide vital protection to our nation's population."

Adding Novavax's candidate to the federal government's program "increases the odds that we will have a safe, effective vaccine as soon as the end of this year," said U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.

In animal studies, Novavax's vaccine candidate — a protein called NVX-CoV2373 — has successfully created enough antibodies to block the virus from binding to cells. The effects increased eightfold after two doses, which means that a vaccine is likely to be protective in humans, the company announced earlier this year.

Novavax began injecting the vaccine candidate into 130 health participants in Australia in May. Preliminary immunogenicity and safety results are expected at the end of this month.