With supply timelines more certain, Novavax closes in on a COVID-19 vaccine deal with Europe: report

Novavax and Europe appear to be close to finalizing a COVID-19 vaccine supply deal. The Gaithersburg, Maryland-based biotech has told the bloc that it plans to begin sending doses to Europe before the end of the year, Reuters reports. The two came to a tentative agreement in December for a supply of up to 200 million doses of the protein-based vaccine. But in late March, a EU official told Reuters the company was delaying negotiations because it was having difficulty securing raw materials to produce the shot. Three weeks ago, Novavax CEO Stanley Erck told The Observer that a shortage of 2,000-liter bags was a threat to the global supply of vaccines. As that report emerged, Novavax warned that its goal of supplying 150 million doses per month globally had been pushed from the end of the second quarter to the third.