HHS announces billion-dollar push toward experimental COVID-19 vaccine

The U.S. Department of Overall health and Human Providers announced Tuesday that it would spend $one.6 billion toward the industrial advancement of a COVID-19 investigational vaccine by the Maryland-based mostly firm Novavax.

HHS also announced that it would deliver $450 million to Regeneron to manufacture and provide the company’s antiviral antibody treatment, REGN-COV2.

The scientific trials for the two the vaccine and the treatment are continue to underway.

The funding initiatives were carried out as a joint exertion concerning HHS and the Department of Protection as part of Procedure Warp Pace, the Trump administration’s initiative to deliver 300 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine by January 2021. 

“Depending on achievement in scientific trials, today’s $one.6 billion financial investment supports our most recent vaccine candidate, being designed by Novavax, all the way by way of scientific trials and manufacturing a hundred million doses for the American men and women,” stated HHS Secretary Alex Azar.

The $one.6 billion, in accordance to Novavax, will be put toward scientific advancement and trials, the establishment of big-scale manufacturing, and the supply of a hundred million vaccine doses. As documented by the New York Times, Novavax has not yet brought a item to industry. 

The authorities will own any doses of the vaccine and treatment ensuing from the initiatives, HHS stated. 

“If these doses are made use of in a COVID-19 vaccination marketing campaign, the vaccine would be out there to the American men and women at no price,” stated the company in a press launch. “As is customary with authorities-acquired vaccines, health care specialists could demand insurers for the price of administering the vaccine.”

Regeneron stated in a press assertion that, must the U.S. Food stuff and Drug Administration grant crisis use authorization or item acceptance for the treatment, “the authorities has fully commited to making doses from these plenty out there to the American men and women at no price and would be liable for their distribution.”

“This arrangement with Regeneron is the to start with of a range of Procedure Warp Pace awards to help potential therapeutics all the way by way of to manufacturing, making it possible for more quickly distribution if trials are prosperous,” stated Azar.

HHS announced on May well 15 that fourteen vaccine candidates had been picked out under Procedure Warp Pace with the intention of being narrowed down to about seven. The company had already allocated hundreds of millions in cash to help the advancement of Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and AstraZeneca’s candidate vaccines.

The HHS announcement comes on the heels of the FDA’s decision to grant crisis use authorization to a position-of-care 15-minute COVID-19 antigen check made by Becton Dickinson. 

On Tuesday, having said that, the Food and drug administration also issued a warning about wrong beneficial charges from a distinct Becton Dickinson COVID-19 check, which had been granted an crisis use authorization in April.

Kat Jercich is senior editor of Healthcare IT Information.
Twitter: @kjercich
Healthcare IT Information is a HIMSS Media publication.