Valneva Begins Production of its Investigational COVID-19 Vaccine

French vaccine company Valneva said it has begun production of its investigational COVID-19 vaccine, which is now in a phase 1/2 clinical trial in the UK.

The study has enrolled 150 adult volunteers for a two-dose inoculation and initial results are expected in April. Valneva also plans to test the vaccine in more than 4,000 patients in additional trials. The candidate vaccine, VLA2001, is currently the only inactivated COVID-19 vaccine in clinical trials in Europe.

Production is now under way at the company’s facility in Scotland, which has the capacity to produce up to 250 million doses annually.

Valneva announced an agreement last September to supply up to 190 million vaccine doses to the UK government if the trials are successful, starting with 60 million doses in the second half of 2021.

Earlier this month, the company announced that it is also in advanced discussions with the European Commission to supply up to 60 million doses to EU member states. — Martin Berman-Gorvine