Valneva SE, a specialty vaccine company, has reached agreement with the UK government to provide up to 100 million doses of its SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate, to be manufactured at its facilities in Livingston, Scotland. The UK government is expected to contribute to UK clinical studies costs and is negotiating funding to expand Valneva’s Scottish facility. As part of its broader COVID-19 response, Valneva plans to further invest in its manufacturing facility in Livingston and Solna, Sweden.

Valneva is developing VLA2001, an inactivated whole virus vaccine candidate against the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. VLA2001 leverages Valneva’s platform for IXIARO, its vaccine approved for active immunization for the prevention of Japanese encephalitis. The company is also collaborating with Dynavax to evaluate the potential use of its CpG 1018 adjuvant as part of the VLA2001 vaccine.  This vaccine is expected to enter clinical studies by the end of 2020 and to potentially reach regulatory approval in 2H21.

Thomas Lingelbach, CEO of Valneva, said, “We are delighted to have been selected to participate in this important program with the UK government. This recognizes the strong track record and capabilities that we have built in the last fifteen years both in the UK and beyond. Our Livingston facility has been FDA approved for over a decade and we have a strong team both there and in Solna. We also envisage manufacturing vaccines to support the need for prevention of COVID-19 beyond the UK.”