Sanofi and Novavex sign exclusive $1.2bn licensing agreement to co-commercialise COVID-19 vaccine and develop flu-COVID-19 vaccines
James Spargo | May 10, 2024 | News story | Sales and Marketing | COVID-19, COVID-19 vaccine, Immunology, Novatex, Sanofi, flu-COVID-19 vaccine, licensing agreement
French pharma and healthcare company Sanofi and US biotech Novavex, have entered into a co-exclusive licensing agreement for a number of projects, including commercialising Novavex’s COVID-19 vaccine and developing a flu-COVID-19 combined vaccine.
Sanofi will assist Novavex in globally co-commercialising its current COVID-19 vaccine, except in countries where there is existing Advance Purchase agreements or partnership agreements (such as India, Japan and South Korea). A sole license will also be used for this vaccine in combination with Sanofi’s flu vaccine. Lastly, there will be a non-exclusive license to use the Matrix-M adjuvant in vaccine products.
Within this agreement, Novavax will receive an upfront payment of $500m and up to $700m in development, regulatory and launch milestones – $1.2bn in total. Novavax will also gain tiered double-digit percentage royalty payments on sales by Sanofi of the COVID-19 and flu-COVID-19 vaccines, and additional launch and sales milestone opportunities of up to $200m plus mid-single digit royalties for each additional Sanofi vaccine developed with Novavex’s Matrix-M technology.
Jean-Francois Toussaint, global head of Vaccines R&D, Sanofi, commented: “With flu and COVID-19 hospital admission rates now closely mirroring each other, we have an opportunity to develop non-mRNA flu-COVID-19 combination vaccines offering patients both enhanced convenience and protection against two serious respiratory viruses. We’re excited by the prospect of combining Novavax’s adjuvanted COVID-19 vaccine that has shown high efficacy and favourable tolerability, with our rich portfolio of differentiated flu vaccines that have demonstrated superior protection against flu and its serious complications. Improved tolerability and thermostability, without compromise on efficacy, are what regulators, recommending bodies and patients will demand.”
John Jacobs, CEO, Novavax, stated: “This collaboration is important for Novavax and for global public health. Our new partnership combines Novavax’s proprietary recombinant protein and nanoparticle technologies, Matrix adjuvant, and R&D expertise with Sanofi’s world-class leadership in launching and commercialising innovative vaccines. Together, we can broaden access to both our COVID-19 vaccine and our adjuvant to ensure more individuals can benefit from the protection vaccines can provide. Novavax is now in a stronger position to refocus our efforts on leveraging our technology platform and novel adjuvant in research and development and pipeline expansion to help advance our mission of developing life-saving vaccines to fight infectious diseases.”
James Spargo
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