A health worker prepares a dose of Novavax vaccine as the Dutch Health Service launches the Novavax vaccination program in The Hague, Netherlands, on March 21, 2022.
Patrick Van Katwijk | Patrick Van Katwijk Getty Images
Novavax Signed on Friday multi-billion dollar deals with French pharmaceutical companies Sanofi Starting next year, the company will jointly commercialize its COVID-19 vaccine and develop combination vaccines against coronavirus and influenza.
The license agreement will allow Novavax to lift its “going concern” warning, its first release Novavax CEO John Jacobs said in an interview with CNBC that the company was established in February 2023 due to doubts about its ability to continue operating.
It marks a turning point for the struggling vaccine maker and its protein-based COVID-19 vaccine. Health officials believe the vaccine is a valuable alternative for people who don’t want to receive a messenger RNA shot. Pfizer and modern.
Part of the deal gives Sanofi access to Novavax’s Covid vaccine and flagship vaccine technology, Matrix-M Adjuvant, developing new vaccine products. Sanofi will pay Novavax $500 million upfront and up to $700 million in development, regulatory and launch milestone payments.
That total is roughly double Novavax’s current market capitalization of $627 million.
Novavax is also entitled to royalties on Sanofi’s sales of its coronavirus vaccine and a combination vaccine for coronavirus and influenza. Novavax will also receive up to $200 million in additional launch and sales milestone payments and royalties for each product Sanofi develops using Matrix-M adjuvant.
Under the agreement, Sanofi will also hold less than 5% of Novavax.
“It has really helped our business. It has allowed us to remain well capitalized, removed the burden of going concern and given us the opportunity to pivot our strategy more towards what we do best – serving all of our stakeholders “We will bring additional value to our shareholders, including our shareholders,” Jacobs told CNBC.
The deal will also help the company fulfill its mission of improving global public health with its vaccine technology platform, something we would never be able to do if we kept it all to ourselves due to a lack of resources, capital and funding. Booth said.
Terms of the transaction
Novavax will lead the commercialization of its COVID-19 vaccine for the remainder of the year and will hand over most responsibility to Sanofi in 2025. South Korea) and countries that have signed purchase agreements with the company for its advanced COVID-19 vaccine.
Sanofi, as a major pharmaceutical company, can increase market share and presence for Novavax’s Covid vaccine, which would expand patient access to the vaccine, Jacobs said.
The deal also allows Sanofi to develop products that combine its flu shot or other in-house vaccines with Novavax’s Covid vaccine. Sanofi could also use Novavax’s Matrix-M adjuvant to develop new vaccine products.
Notably, Sanofi will be solely responsible for the development and commercialization of any combination vaccine containing its flu vaccine and Novavax’s Covid vaccine.
“By entering into this agreement with a world leader like Sanofi, not only in commercialization but also in development, we believe it will greatly increase the opportunity to launch multiple new vaccines more quickly,” Jacobs said. .
Outside of the agreement, Novavax expects to launch late-stage trials of a combination vaccine against coronavirus and influenza and its standalone flu vaccine later this year. Previously, Novavax said the trial would only include the combination vaccine.
“Now, we expect to launch Phase 3 trials in the second half of this year, and if we are successful, there will be not just one potentially licensable vaccine, but two,” Jacobs said of the deal. Release cost” and “opening up our own organic pipeline. ”
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