Voice of America
24 Jun 2022, 04:36 GMT+10
Valneva's VLS.PA COVID-19 vaccine was endorsed by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Thursday, although the French company's contract with the European Commission to supply the dose hangs in the balance.
Valneva has been trying to salvage the deal with the European Commission after its vaccine program was hit by delays in its marketing application due to requests from the EMA for more information.
The original deal was for up to 60 million doses. But due to application delays and countries in Europe already having excess supply, the Commission has signalled that it wants to amend the agreement for a much smaller number of doses, Valneva said earlier this month.
But, according to Valneva CEO Thomas Lingelbach, if those volumes are confirmed, that would not be enough to sustain the company's vaccine program.
A Valneva spokesperson said on Wednesday the contract continues to be discussed by the Commission and member states.
Valneva's vaccine is the sixth shot to be recommended by the EMA for COVID-19. A final decision on the vaccine's approval is expected shortly by the Commission.
Valneva's Paris-listed shares jumped around 22% on Thursday.
Britain cancelled its Valneva vaccine contract in 2021, although the company has secured approvals in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
Valneva's vaccine uses technology already employed for decades in shots against polio, influenza and hepatitis. The company has bet it will win over people who had refused COVID vaccines that used mRNA and other new technologies.
But demand for a new crop of COVID vaccines remains uncertain. U.S.-based Novavax's NVAX.O shot uses a traditional technology like Valneva's but has had limited take up in Europe, with about 220,000 doses administered out of 12.6 million distributed in the region.
Some vaccine makers, such as AstraZeneca AZN.L and Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N, have warned of a global COVID vaccine glut.
Get a daily dose of Northern Ireland News news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Northern Ireland News.
More InformationLONDON, England: British Airways has halted ticket sales for short-haul flights that depart before the middle of August from London's ...
LONDON, England: In 2023, America's Major League Baseball is set to return to London for the first time since 2019, ...
LONDON, England: During the record-breaking heatwave that swept Europe, England and France recorded their driest July since 1935 and 1959, ...
LONDON, England: Due to high margins and trading on the back of soaring energy prices, British Petroleum recorded second quarter ...
LONDON, England: Liz Truss, the frontrunner to become the next UK prime minister, said she would not impose new taxes ...
LONDON, England: Prosecutors and police have charged a 20-year-old man, arrested in December 2021 with a crossbow while on the ...
SOLOMON ISLANDS: In a move that opponents said is aimed at controlling and censoring the media, the government of the ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: In July, a Florida man was killed by exploding Takata airbag inflators, possibly becoming the 20th death in ...
Israel has launched an unprovoked war against the Palestinian resistance group Islamic Jihad. The Israeli army assassinated a high-ranking commander ...
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan categorically denied on Thursday that a U.S. drone strike in Kabul that killed al-Qaeda chief Ayman ...
EAST NUSA TENGGARA, Indonesia: Hundreds of Indonesian tourism workers went on strike this week to protest a sharp rise in ...
NASSAU, Bahamas: A team of explorers have announced that they have uncovered a treasure, including coins, gemstones and priceless jewels, ...