Novavax Gets Help From FUJIFILM To Manufacture COVID-19 Vaccine

GAITHERSBURG, MD — Novavax Inc., a Gaithersburg-based biotechnology company racing to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, is getting a boost from contract development and manufacturing organization FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies.

In a July press release, Novavax announced that the Toyko-based company will help mass-manufacture doses of its vaccine candidate in clinical trials.

"We are grateful to partner with the team at FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies to ensure the large-scale manufacture of our COVID-19 vaccine candidate," said Novavax CEO and President Stanley C. Erck. "We are committed to working together with unprecedented speed to deliver a vaccine to protect our nation's population."

The news comes shortly after Novavax was 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 the company's vaccine candidate, which would be delivered as early as late 2020. It's the biggest deal to date from "Operation Warp Speed," the White House's COVID-19 vaccine program.

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 the first week of August. Phase two — which will assess immunity, safety, and effectiveness — is supposed to begin shortly thereafter.

FUJIFILM will bulk manufacture Novavax's vaccine candidate at a facility in Morrisville, North Carolina. They will be used in a future phase three clinical trial of up to 30,000 subjects later this year, according to Novavax.