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Friday, May 07 2021 - 00:16
AsiaNet
Novavax and Gavi Execute Advance Purchase Agreement for COVID-19 Vaccine for COVAX Facility
GAITHERSBURG, Md., May 7, 2021 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --

-- Novavax to deliver 350 million doses beginning Q3 2021 

-- 1.1 billion doses of Novavax vaccine to be available to countries 
participating in COVAX 

-- Serum Institute of India to provide balance of doses for LMICs 

-- Underscores commitment to global equitable access to Novavax vaccine 

GAITHERSBURG, Md., May 7, 2021 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ -- 

Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX), a biotechnology company developing 
next-generation vaccines for serious infectious diseases, today announced that 
it has finalized an advance purchase agreement (APA) with Gavi, the Vaccine 
Alliance (Gavi) for supply of its recombinant protein-based COVID-19 vaccine 
candidate to the COVAX Facility. Under the APA, Novavax is expected to 
manufacture and distribute 350 million doses of NVX-CoV2373 to countries 
participating under the COVAX Facility, which was established to allocate and 
distribute vaccines equitably to participating countries and economies. Under a 
separate purchase agreement with Gavi, the Serum Institute of India (Serum 
Institute) is expected to manufacture and deliver the balance of the 1.1 
billion doses of Novavax' vaccine. 

"This is a tremendous opportunity to partner with global organizations focused 
on accelerating equitable access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines, 
particularly in countries where vaccination rates are currently low," said 
Stanley C. Erck, President and Chief Executive Officer, Novavax. "This 
arrangement is the culmination of a collaboration among CEPI, Gavi, Serum 
Institute and Novavax, who are partnering in our urgent mission to deliver 
significant amounts of vaccines to all countries, regardless of income level. 
Novavax thanks CEPI for its longstanding support and tireless work with Gavi as 
the curators of the COVAX Facility." 

Under the APA, Novavax expects to deliver doses with antigen and adjuvant 
manufactured at facilities directly funded by the investments Novavax received 
from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). CEPI invested 
nearly $400 million in Novavax in the spring of 2020 to advance preclinical and 
early clinical development, manufacturing scale-up, technology transfer, and 
manufacturing capacity reservation for NVX-CoV2373. 

"CEPI's investments to accelerate the clinical development and manufacturing of 
this vaccine candidate have been critical to enabling equitable access to the 
vaccine through COVAX," said Dr. Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI. "With this 
agreement in place, the Novavax vaccine candidate will play a vital role in our 
mission to protect those most at risk from COVID-19, wherever they are in the 
world."

"Today's agreement with Novavax marks a major step towards COVAX's objective of 
building the world's largest and most diverse portfolio of COVID-19 vaccines, 
and a major step towards our goal of delivering 2 billion doses of safe and 
effective vaccines in 2021," said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi. "Novavax' 
commitment not only to support COVAX directly, but also through technology 
transfer via other manufacturers, shines a light on the end-to-end nature of 
COVAX and the kind of collaboration needed to bring this pandemic under 
control."

Together, Novavax and Serum Institute expect to initiate delivery of the 
cumulative 1.1 billion doses in the third quarter of 2021, pending receipt of 
appropriate regulatory authorizations. Under the APA, Novavax will receive an 
upfront payment from Gavi later this month and an additional payment after it 
secures Emergency Use Listing for its vaccine by the WHO. In addition, Novavax 
has agreed to provide additional doses in the event that Serum Institute cannot 
materially deliver expected vaccine doses to the COVAX Facility.

Vaccine dose allocation will be determined by Gavi across the AMC-eligible and 
self-financing participants under a tiered pricing schedule. 

"CEPI's early support served as a catapult for Novavax to create a global 
supply network that we expect could provide a significant percent of the 
world's vaccine supply via COVAX," Erck continued. "We look forward to the 
ongoing collaboration with Serum Institute to deliver on our manufacturing 
capacity and to working with WHO to secure authorization as rapidly as possible 
for NVX-CoV2373."

About the COVAX Facility 
The COVAX Facility is a global risk-sharing mechanism for pooled procurement 
and equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines that currently includes more 
than 190 participating economies, designed and administered by Gavi, the 
Vaccine Alliance. It is part of COVAX, co-led by CEPI, Gavi and the World 
Health Organization (WHO), which are working in partnership with developed and 
developing country vaccine manufacturers, UNICEF, PAHO, the World Bank, civil 
society organizations and others to guarantee fair and equitable access to the 
vaccine. 

About NVX-CoV2373 
NVX-CoV2373 is a protein-based vaccine candidate engineered from the genetic 
sequence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease. NVX-CoV2373 was 
created using Novavax' recombinant nanoparticle technology to generate antigen 
derived from the coronavirus spike (S) protein and is adjuvanted with Novavax' 
patented saponin-based Matrix-M(TM) to enhance the immune response and 
stimulate high levels of neutralizing antibodies. NVX-CoV2373 contains purified 
protein antigen and can neither replicate, nor can it cause COVID-19. In 
preclinical studies, NVX-CoV2373 induced antibodies that blocked the binding of 
spike protein to cellular receptors and provided protection from infection and 
disease. It was generally well-tolerated and elicited robust antibody response 
in Phase 1/2 clinical testing.

NVX-CoV2373 is being evaluated in two pivotal Phase 3 trials, a trial in the 
U.K. that demonstrated 100% protection against severe disease, efficacy of 
96.4% against the original virus strain and 89.7% overall, and the PREVENT-19 
trial in the U.S. and Mexico that began in December 2020. It is also being 
tested in two ongoing Phase 2 studies that began in August 2020: A Phase 2b 
trial in South Africa that demonstrated 100% protection against severe disease 
and 48.6% efficacy against a newly emerging escape variant, and a Phase 1/2 
continuation in the U.S. and Australia.

NVX-CoV2373 is stored and stable at 2°- 8°C, allowing the use of existing 
vaccine supply chain channels for its distribution. It is packaged in a 
ready-to-use liquid formulation in 10-dose vials.

About Matrix-M(TM) 
Novavax' patented saponin-based Matrix-M(TM) adjuvant has demonstrated a potent 
and well-tolerated effect by stimulating the entry of antigen presenting cells 
into the injection site and enhancing antigen presentation in local lymph 
nodes, boosting immune response.

About Novavax 
Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX) is a biotechnology company that promotes 
improved health globally through the discovery, development and 
commercialization of innovative vaccines to prevent serious infectious 
diseases. The company's proprietary recombinant technology platform combines 
the power and speed of genetic engineering to efficiently produce highly 
immunogenic nanoparticles designed to address urgent global health needs. 
Novavax is conducting late-stage clinical trials for NVX-CoV2373, its 
vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. 
NanoFlu(TM), its quadrivalent influenza nanoparticle vaccine, met all primary 
objectives in its pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial in older adults and will be 
advanced for regulatory submission. Both vaccine candidates incorporate 
Novavax' proprietary saponin-based Matrix-M(TM) adjuvant to enhance the immune 
response and stimulate high levels of neutralizing antibodies.

For more information, visit www.novavax.com and connect with us on Twitter ( 
https://twitter.com/novavax ) and LinkedIn ( 
https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=3154807-1&h=1132737244&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fcompany%2Fnovavax&a=LinkedIn 
).

Novavax Forward Looking Statements 
Statements herein relating to the future of Novavax and the ongoing development 
of its vaccine and adjuvant products are forward-looking statements. Novavax 
cautions that these forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks 
and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from 
those expressed or implied by such statements. These risks and uncertainties 
include those identified under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Novavax Annual 
Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, as filed with the 
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). We caution investors not to place 
considerable reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this press 
release. You are encouraged to read our filings with the SEC, available at 
www.sec.gov, for a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties. The 
forward-looking statements in this press release speak only as of the date of 
this document, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any of the 
statements. Our business is subject to substantial risks and uncertainties, 
including those referenced above. Investors, potential investors, and others 
should give careful consideration to these risks and uncertainties.

Contacts:

Investors
Novavax, Inc.  
Erika Schultz | +1-240-268-2022 
ir@novavax.com

Solebury Trout 
Alexandra Roy | +1-617-221-9197 
aroy@soleburytrout.com

Novavax Media 
Laura Keenan | +1-202-709-7521 
media@novavax.com

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SOURCE: Novavax, Inc.
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