Drugmaker Novavax will receive a boost from the federal government to the tune of $1.6 billion as efforts to find a coronavirus vaccination intensify.
The Trump administration handed the Maryland-based vaccine development company the reward as part of the White House’s “Operation Warp Speed” program, which aims to combat the spread of the coronavirus. The award is the largest deal from the program so far.
“We’re pretty confident this will stimulate a potent neutralizing immune response in humans,” Novavax President Stanley Erck told CNBC Tuesday morning.
Erck said the money will be used to establish manufacturing, implement a phase three clinical trial, and deliver more than 100 million doses of a potential vaccination.
“To show that the vaccine is, No. 1, safe, that it’s effective and, if the vaccine is stable and in parallel, these things are usually done in sequence parallel, will be able to manufacture large quantities at multiple locations in five or six countries,” Erck added.
Novavax is one of several companies that have received payments from the federal government as part of Operation Warp Speed amid rising cases throughout the United States. The company received a shoutout from Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who congratulated Novavax for the award.
“I want to congratulate @Novavax of Gaithersburg for receiving the largest Operation Warp Speed grant yet to accelerate development of a #COVID19 vaccine,” Hogan tweeted Tuesday. “Since day one, I’ve said that Maryland’s biohealth institutions would lead the charge to develop treatments and vaccines.”
