The European Commission is massively shrinking the supply contract for corona vaccine with the biotech company Valneva. Under the revised agreement, Valneva commits to supplying 1.25 million doses to EU countries for delivery in August and September, the commission said on Wednesday. There is also an option to buy an additional 1.25 million doses of the so-called inactivated vaccine before the end of the year.
Originally, the delivery of 60 million doses was agreed, of which about 27 million for this year. However, delays in the approval process and reduced demand for vaccines, caused by an oversupply of vaccines and a delay in vaccination, prompted EU countries to make changes to the original treaty.
Serious setback for dead vaccine
This is a major setback for the Franco-Austrian company, whose vaccine was approved in the EU at the end of June. Valneva had already questioned the future of its inactivated vaccine after the European Commission announced in May that it could terminate the pre-purchase agreement due to delays in the approval process.
For the EU, it was the sixth approved Covid-19 vaccine and the first so-called dead vaccine. The vaccine, which contains the inactivated SARS-CoV-2 virus and two enhancers, was approved as a primary vaccine for people aged 18 to 50.
Difficult times for companies
Rx Securities analyst Samir Devani, who once forecast Valneva’s $400 million in sales from the vaccine — based largely on the original EU deal — already wrote off the forecast when the company announced last month that the deal would be broken.
He now explained that Valneva will likely use the existing stocks to fulfill the amended EU order. “However, I think it will be very difficult for the company to maintain a vaccine production line if those are the only orders they will receive.”
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
