SK bioscience said that it has expanded its collaboration and license agreement with Novavax concerning the latter's NVX-CoV2373, a recombinant nanoparticle protein-based Covid-19 vaccine.
Under the expanded contract, SK bioscience will reserve additional manufacturing capacity to produce an antigen, a key component of NVX-CoV2373, through next year and maybe after that.
SK Bioscience will receive a consignment fee for undiluted solution (DS) production and sales commission from Novavax's finished product sales. SK bioscience may also supply additional NVX-CoV2373 in the Korean market in 2022. It has also won non-exclusive rights to sell doses of Novavax's vaccine to Thailand and Vietnam.
"SK bioscience and the Korean government continue to be significant partners with Novavax in our efforts to ensure broad access of our Covid-19 vaccine to the citizens of South Korea and beyond," Novavax CEO and President Stanley C. Erck said.
He went on to say, “This strategic partnership helps to expand further our global network for manufacture and commercialization of high-quality product and will be an important part of our expected two billion annual doses in total global manufacturing capacity in 2022."
SK Bioscience CEO Ahn Jae-yong also said, "SK bioscience shares Novavax's sense of urgency to deliver a safe and effective protein-based Covid-19 vaccine to help protect not only Koreans but also the global population."
The company is committed to supporting the production of NVX-CoV2373 in Korea and doing its part in the fight against Covid-19 in partnership with Novavax, Ahn added.
NVX-CoV2373 is a protein-based vaccine engineered from the genetic sequence of the first strain of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19 disease.
Novavax developed NVX-CoV2373 using its recombinant nanoparticle technology to generate antigen derived from the coronavirus spike protein and formulated the proteins using its patented saponin-based Matrix-M adjuvant to enhance the immune response and stimulate high levels of neutralizing antibodies.
The company has confirmed the vaccine's efficacy through the PREVENT-19 trial, involving 25,452 participants from the U.S. and Mexico, confirming the overall capacity of 90.4 percent.
A recent study has shown that the vaccine has an immune response to Omicron and other variants.
As a result of vaccinating a subject with NVX-CoV2373 twice and one booster shot after six months, the company confirmed that the antibody titer responding to the Omicron variant was 9.3 times higher than that of the second immunization and 11.1 times higher for the Delta variant.