Australia Buys 51 Million COVID-19 Vaccine Doses From Maryland Pharma

Maryland-based Novavax, Inc. announced that it had executed an Advance Purchase Agreement with the Commonwealth of Australia for 51 million doses of NVX-CoV2373, Novavax’ COVID-19 vaccine candidate. This follows an agreement in principle that was announced in November 2020.

“The continued increase in significant COVID-19 transmission in virtually all parts of the world underscores the need for multiple safe, efficacious vaccines in enormous quantities to stop the pandemic,” said Stanley C. Erck, Novavax President, and CEO, in a press statement issued on January 7, 2021.

Novavax stated it is working with Australia’s regulatory agency, the Therapeutics Goods Administration (TGA), to obtain product approvals upon demonstrating efficacy in clinical studies. The company aims to deliver initial doses by mid-2021. As part of the agreement, Australia will have the option to purchase up to an additional 10 million doses.

Novavax is currently conducting late-stage clinical studies to demonstrate the efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity of NVX-CoV2373 for the prevention of COVID-19. This includes two large pivotal Phase 3 clinical trials in the USA / Mexico (PREVENT-19 trial) and in the United Kingdom, as well as a Phase 2b trial in South Africa.