The UK government has terminated its supply agreement with French firm Valneva for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate VLA2001.
According to Valneva, the UK government has alleged that the company breached its obligations under the agreement, which it ‘strenuously’ denies.
Previously, the UK government had ordered 60 million doses of VLA2001, with another deal penned in February taking the total ordered to 100 million doses.
On top of this, the UK government also retained options for a further 90 million doses of VLA2001 for supply between 2023 and 2025.
As pat of the Valneva deal, the UK government was set to expand the firm’s Scottish facility in Livingston.
“This is a blow for the facility in Livingston. We are very keen and will be reaching out to the company to try to get security and secure a future for that facility in Livingston; we hope that would be with Valneva,” Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s health secretary, told BBC Good Morning Scotland.
“Clearly, when it comes to their supposed alleged failure to meet their contract obligations, we obviously are looking for more information from the UK government and would expect that shortly,” he added.
VLA2001 is currently in Phase III clinical testing, with results expected early in the fourth quarter. These results will form part of the company’s rolling submission for condition approval of the vaccine with the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
