The UK government and Valneva were in a €1.4bn ($1.65bn) five-year deal: to not only supply the UK with up to 190 million doses of the French company’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate once authorized; but also to boost manufacturing capacity at the company’s Livingston site in Scotland. Clinical trials are also under way with government agencies in the UK.
But today Valneva announced today that it has received a termination notice from the UK government for its supply agreement for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, VLA2001.
Under the contract, the UK government retained the right to cancel. But while it says that Valneva is ‘in breach of its obligations under the supply agreement’, the company denies this. No further details have been given on the nature of the alleged breaches.
The vaccine partnership had included:
- Creation of a ‘major UK facility’ with government investment in Livingston
- 60 million doses supplied to the UK in 2021 with options for another 130 million doses between 2022 and 2025
- Co-funding of clincial trials
- The deal was set out in September
Brand new vaccine manufacturing facility ‘near completion’
Valneva’s vaccine is the only whole virus inactivated adjuvanted candidate against COVID-19 in clinical trials in Europe. It champions a ‘tried and tested’ approach with the vaccine, thanks to the use of tech that has been in use for decades, as well as the vaccine’s ability to be stored and distributed at standard cold chain temperatures (2 to 8°C).