Vaccine developers given federal “shot in the arm.”
Novavax, a biotechnology company based in Maryland, has been awarded $1.6 billion to aid them in developing, producing, and distributing a coronavirus vaccine. Novavax says it hopes to produce 10 million does by late 2020.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said, “More good news about COVID-19 therapeutics is constantly emerging, and President Trump’s commitment to supporting lifesaving therapeutics will help deliver these products to American patients without a day’s delay.”
Stanley Erck, President and CEO of Novavax said, “We are honored to partner with Operation Warp Speed to move our vaccine candidate forward with extraordinary urgency in the quest to provide vital protection to our nation’s population.”
Novavax received $388 million for Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials, with results expected later this month. The new federal assistance will finance Phase 3 clinical trials for the company’s vaccine candidate and facilitate production in a newly-acquired facility in the Czech Republic. The company will also establish production sites in India and Asia.
According to Secretary Azar, Operation Warp Speed is creating a portfolio of vaccines to increase the odds that there will be at least one safe, effective vaccine as soon as the end of this year.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For laboratories and scientists at Novavax and elsewhere as they work “at warp speed” to create and produce a vaccine against the COVID-19 virus.
- For Secretary Azar, the White House Coronavirus Task Force members, and others at the CDC, as they continue to update guidelines for daily activities, and now for school re-openings.
Sources: Townhall, New York Times
