Kingdom of Bahrain Buys 1 Million French COVID-19 Vaccines

France-based Valneva SE today announced the signing of an advance purchase agreement with the Kingdom of Bahrain for the supply of one million doses of the inactivated COVID-19 vaccine candidate VLA2001.

And, Valneva has initiated a rolling submission process with the Bahraini National Health Regulatory Authority. Subject to approval, the Company is forecasting vaccine deliveries in the first quarter of 2022.

This announcement is the second purchase agreement Valneva has secured since reporting positive data for its Phase 3 clinical trial Cov-Compare last month.

In October 2021, the European Commission signed an advanced purchase agreement with Valneva for up to 60 million doses of VLA2001.

VLA2001 is currently the only whole virus, inactivated, adjuvanted vaccine candidate against COVID-19 in clinical trials in Europe. It is intended for active immunization of at-risk populations to prevent carriage and symptomatic infection with COVID-19 during the ongoing pandemic and potentially later for routine vaccination, including addressing new variants. 

A Bahraini government spokesperson stated, “Subject to approval, Bahraini citizens and residents will have the ability to choose from a variety of vaccines in Bahrain that will have a positive impact on driving up vaccinations rates with 93% of the eligible population now fully vaccinated in the Kingdom.”

Bahrain is a country of about a 1.7million people located in the Persian Gulf. The island nation comprises 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island.

Valneva is a specialty vaccine company located in Saint-Herblain, France, focused on the development and commercialization of prophylactic vaccines for infectious diseases with significant unmet medical need.