European Commission signs agreement to purchase up to 200 million Novavax Covid-19 vaccine doses

The European Commission has approved its seventh advanced purchase agreement (APA) with a pharma company—this one with Novavax—to certify access to a potential vaccine against Covid over the next few years.

The biotech company’s Covid-19 vaccine is currently under rolling review by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in view of a potential market authorization.

Per the contract, member states will be able to purchase up to 100 million doses of the Novavax vaccine, with an option for 100 million more doses over the course of 2021, 2022 and 2023, once reviewed and approved by EMA as safe and effective. Member states will also be able to donate vaccines to lower and middle-income countries, or re-direct them to other European countries, as they see fit.

“Vaccinations in the EU are advancing, and we are closer to our target of 70% fully vaccinated citizens by the end of summer,” says Stella Kyriakides, European commissioner for health and food safety. “Our new agreement with Novavax expands our vaccine portfolio to include one more protein-based vaccine, a technology platform showing promise in clinical trials. We will continue working tirelessly to ensure that our vaccines continue to reach citizens in Europe and around the world, to end the pandemic as quickly as possible.”