UK cancels COVID-19 Vaccine Contract with Franco-Austrian firm Valneva

According to Valneva, a French-Austrian biotech laboratory, the British government has cancelled a supply agreement for a potential Covid vaccine it is developing.

Britain had placed an order for 100 million doses of the vaccine for 2021-2022, the company’s only order so far for Valneva which has  manufacturing sites in Scotland.

Valneva stated in a statement that it “strenuously denies” charges from the UK that it violated the deal’s obligations.

The spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson declined to comment on the specifics of Valneva’s assertion, but pointed out that Valneva’s vaccine candidate was not yet approved.

“The comments from the company won’t have any impact on our vaccine supply and did not form any part of our vaccine rollout in autumn and winter,” he said.

Unlike most high-profile coronavirus shots, which use various methods to prime the immune system to fight the coronavirus, Valneva’s VLA2001 is based on a “inactivated” version of the coronavirus itself.

The laboratory had said Phase 1 and 2 trials suggested its vaccine would be more than 80 percent effective.

Valneva confirmed on Monday it had received a “termination notice” despite having “worked tirelessly” on its UK collaboration.

“Valneva continues to be committed to the development of VLA2001,” the firm said, adding that it would ramp up its work with other potential customers.