The controversy between Britain and the French vaccine company Valneva is an ongoing trade issue and will not affect vaccine supplies in Britain, a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said today.
“This is an ongoing trade issue so I am slightly limited in what I can say,” the spokesman told reporters.
“The MHRA [η βρετανική ρυθμιστική αρχή φαρμάκων] has not approved the Valneva vaccine. The company reviews will not affect our vaccine supplies and were not part of the vaccine delivery [που έχουμε προγραμματίσει για] “in the autumn and winter,” said the spokesman.
The British government has “canceled” its contract for 100 million doses of the candidate vaccine against Covid-19 of the Franco-Austrian pharmaceutical laboratory Valneva.
“The contract contains a clause that allows the British government to end it. [Η βρετανική κυβέρνηση] “It also claims that Valneva has not fulfilled its obligations, which Valneva strongly disputes,” the company, based near Nantes (western France), said in a statement, without elaborating.
The biotechnology company is developing an inactivated virus vaccine against Covid-19, a more classic technology than messenger RNA used primarily for influenza vaccines each year.
The lab had applied in August for approval by the UK health authorities for its candidate vaccine, VLA2001.
“Valneva has worked tirelessly and invested the maximum of its capabilities in its cooperation” with the British Government, “mainly by committing significant resources and showing a very strong involvement in order to to meet orders for vaccines adapted to the variants“, The company states.
Britain was the first country to support Valneva by ordering it: First for 60 million doses and then for an additional 40 million doses for the period 2021-2022.
This country “responded first, largely without a doubt because we are already settled there and also because they immediately believed in our vaccine. They were the first to react and make us a structured offer of help. They took all the risks for the program “, said at the beginning of the year Frank Grimo, general manager of Valneva in an interview with the French Agency.
At the end of August, the company said that, based on the first and second phase tests, it hopes to “have a vaccine that is more than 80% effective”.
He reminds today that the results of the phase 3 tests – which are intended to prove the real effectiveness of a treatment before its release on the market – are expected at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
These results “will be part of the gradual submission of the VLA2001 conditional permit application to the UK Health Service. “Without prejudice to the results of Phase 3 and the approval of this service”, “Valneva believes that an initial marketing authorization of VLA2001 could be obtained by the end of 2021”.
The group says it “continues to be fully committed to the development” of its candidate vaccine and that it will “increase its efforts with other potential customers to ensure that its vaccine can be used in the fight against the pandemic”.
At the end of August, Frank Grimo also stated that talks with the European Union “are still ongoing”.
Following the announcement of the companies, Valneva shares in the French stock market fell by 35%.
The article Boris Johnson: Vaccine dispute with French company will not affect vaccines published in NewsIT .