Sanofi and Novavax have announced a licensing agreement worth over $1.2bn to co-commercialise Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine and develop combination vaccines for COVID-19 and influenza.
The deal gives Sanofi a co-exclusive licence to co-commercialise Novavax’s current stand-alone adjuvanted COVID-19 vaccine globally, except in countries that Novavax has existing partnership agreements with, including Japan, India and South Korea, as well as those with advance purchase agreements.
Sanofi will also receive a sole licence to Novavax’s adjuvanted COVID-19 vaccine for use in combination with its own flu vaccines, along with a non-exclusive licence to use the company’s Matrix-M adjuvant in vaccine products, and a less than 5% stake in Novavax.
In exchange, Novavax will receive an upfront payment of $500m and up to $700m in development, regulatory and launch milestones, plus tiered royalties on sales by Sanofi of COVID-19 vaccines and flu-COVID-19 combination vaccines.
Novavax will also be entitled to additional launch and sales milestone opportunities of up to $200m plus royalties for each additional Sanofi vaccine product developed under a non-exclusive licence with its Matrix-M adjuvant technology.
The combined vaccine approach has the potential to alleviate the impact of both COVID-19 and flu while offering a combined administration, potentially simplifying immunisation practices for healthcare providers as well as patients.
Jean-Francois Toussaint, global head of vaccines research and development at Sanofi, said: “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… portfolio of differentiated flu vaccines that have demonstrated superior protection against flu and its serious complications.”
Also commenting on the agreement, Novavax’s chief executive officer, John Jacobs, said: “This collaboration is important for Novavax and for global public health… 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.”
The deal comes just days after Sanofi and AstraZeneca’s Beyfortus (nirsevimab) was shown to reduce respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), another common respiratory illness, hospitalisations by 82% in infants aged under six months compared to those who received no RSV intervention.