CEPI and Dynavax expand collaboration to increase supply of adjuvant for COVID-19 vaccines
7 May 2021, Oslo, Norway — CEPI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, today announced an expanded agreement with Dynavax Technologies Corporation (Nasdaq: DVAX) to increase the supply of Dynavax's CpG 1018 vaccine adjuvant available for CEPI-funded COVID-19 vaccine development programmes in 2021. This builds upon an initial agreement signed in January 2021 which provided Dynavax up to $99 million to advance the at-risk manufacture of CpG 1018.
Under the terms of the expanded agreement, CEPI will increase funding by $77 million to a total of $176 million which will increase the available volume of CpG 1018 in 2021. The funding is in the form of a forgivable loan which is repayable to CEPI upon adjuvant sales.
The adjuvant produced under this agreement will be first offered for purchase by CEPI's vaccine development partners within price parameters agreed with CEPI, and represents a key strategic investment by CEPI to increase overall availability of vaccine doses in 2021 from CEPI's COVID-19 R&D portfolio.
It is anticipated that vaccine developers benefiting from CpG 1018 produced under this agreement will make vaccine output — potentially hundreds of millions of doses in 2021 — available for procurement and allocation through COVAX. COVAX is the global initiative to ensure rapid and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for all countries, regardless of income level.
By expanding our collaboration with Dynavax we can scale up the potential number of doses of COVID-19 vaccines available in 2021 through the CEPI-led COVAX R&D portfolio. Through this agreement we are securing additional supplies of adjuvant for vaccine developers which are committed to equitable access through COVAX.
—ENDS—
About CEPI
CEPI is an innovative partnership between public, private, philanthropic, and civil organisations, launched at Davos in 2017, to develop vaccines against future epidemics. Prior to COVID-19 CEPI's work focused on developing vaccines against Ebola virus, Lassa virus, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus, Nipah virus, Rift Valley Fever virus and Chikungunya virus - it has over 20 vaccine candidates against these pathogens in development. CEPI has also invested in new platform technologies for rapid vaccine development against unknown pathogens (Disease X).
During the current pandemic, CEPI initiated multiple programmes to develop vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants with a focus on speed, scale and access. These programmes leverage the rapid response platforms developed by CEPI's partners prior to the emergence of COVID-19 as well as new collaborations. The aim is to advance clinical development of a diverse portfolio of safe and effective COVID-19 candidates and to enable fair allocation to these vaccines worldwide through COVAX.
CEPI's 5-year plan lays out a $3.5 billion roadmap to compress vaccine development timelines to 100 days, develop a universal vaccine against COVID-19 and other Betacoronaviruses, and create a "library" of vaccine candidates for use against known and unknown pathogens. The plan is available at endpandemics.cepi.net.
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About COVAX
COVAX is the vaccines pillar of the ACT-Accelerator. It is co-led by CEPI, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the World Health Organization (WHO) with lead delivery partner UNICEF, working in partnership with developed and developing country vaccine manufacturers, the World Bank, Civil Society Organisations and others. COVAX is the only global initiative that is working with governments and manufacturers to ensure COVID-19 vaccines are available worldwide to economies of all financial means.
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