Valneva SE explained

Valneva SE
Type:Societas Europaea
Isin:FR0004056851
Foundation:2013
Location City:Saint-Herblain
Location Country:France
Key People:Thomas Lingelbach (CEO), Frédéric Grimaud (Chairman of the supervisory board)
Industry:Biotechnology
Predecessor:Merger of Intercell and Vivalis SA
Products:Development of vaccines

Valneva SE is a French biotech company headquartered in Saint-Herblain, France, developing and commercializing vaccines for infectious diseases. It has manufacturing sites in Livingston, Scotland; Solna, Sweden, and Vienna, Austria; with other offices in France, Canada and the United States.[1] [2] [3] __TOC__

Background

Valneva was founded in 2013 through the merger of Austrian company Intercell and French company Vivalis SA.[4] [5] It has been listed since 28 May 2013 on the Euronext Paris in Paris and used to be listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange.

Products

Released vaccines

Vaccines marketed by Valneva include Ixiaro, a vaccine against Japanese encephalitis (approved in Europe, America and Australia)[6] and Dukoral, a vaccine against cholera (approved in Europe and Australia).[7]

Failed developments

Some of its candidates have failed in clinical trials: VLA43, a therapeutic vaccine against Pseudomonas aeruginosa,[8] V710, a therapeutic vaccine against Staphylococcus aureus (in collaboration with Merck),[9] and IC41, therapeutic vaccine against hepatitis C.[10]

COVID-19 vaccine

See main article: article and Valneva COVID-19 vaccine.

Valneva along with Dynavax Technologies[11] developed a candidate inactivated whole virus vaccine against COVID-19, VLA2001,[12] derived from its Ixiaro Japanese encephalitis vaccine, which underwent a Phase 1/2 trial in the United Kingdom.[13] [14] The Phase 1/2 trial had 150 participants, testing three dose levels for safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity. The trial was expected to be complete by 15 February 2021, with full reporting completed by August 2021.[15]

Valneva and dynavax technologies[16] had reached an agreement with the UK government to provide up to 100 million doses to be manufactured at its facility in Livingston, Scotland. The UK government pre-ordered 60 million doses.[12] [13] The trials were supported by the UK National Institute for Health Research and four British universities.[15] Due to government support, Valneva would progress immediately into Phase 3 trials and develop production capacity before the full evaluation of the Phase 1/2 trial, rather than the traditional slower sequential approach which has lower financial risk.[17]

The company manufacturing facility in Livingston, Scotland produces the VLA2001 vaccine.[18] [19]

In September 2021, Valneva announced that the UK government had cancelled their vaccine order.[20] The cancellation reason was not officially given, but seemed to be related to difficulties getting building materials due to Brexit[21] and not vaccine quality.

On 14 April 2022, the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved the vaccine, being the first in the world to do so.[22]

On 17 May 2022 the European Commission cancelled its advance purchase agreement for the vaccine which would have seen Valneva provide 60 million doses over two years.[23]

Other vaccines under development

Valneva is also working on four other vaccines:

On 20 June 2022, American biotech firm Pfizer announced a 90.5 million euro ($95.24 million) investment, buying an 8.1% stake in Valneva as part of a partnership to tackle Lyme disease.[26]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Manufacturing and Services . Valneva . 11 January 2021.
  2. Web site: Marketing and Distribution . Valneva . 11 January 2021.
  3. Web site: Valneva Expands its Commercial Operations with the Opening of its French Commercial Office . Valneva . 9 January 2020 . 11 January 2021.
  4. News: Vivalis to Buy Intercell AG in European Biotech Merger for $174 Million . BioSpace . 17 December 2012 . 2 February 2021.
  5. News: Vivalis announces that the Intercell AG Extraordinary General Meeting has approved the proposed merger of equals with Vivalis SA to create Valneva SE . GlobeNewswire . 28 February 2013 . 2 February 2021.
  6. Web site: Ixiaro, Japanese-encephalitis vaccine (inactivated, adsorbed) . . 5 June 2009 . 25 April 2017.
  7. Web site: Dukoral, cholera vaccine (inactivated, oral) . European Medicines Agency . 30 April 2009 . 25 April 2017.
  8. Web site: Valneva writes off hospital-acquired infection vaccine following PhII/III miss. FierceBiotech, Questex LLC.. 2016-09-01. 2017-04-25.
  9. Web site: Merck ends trial of Intercell's MRSA vaccine. Reuters. 2011-06-08. 2017-04-25.
  10. Web site: Intercell Hepatitis C Vaccine Meets Primary Endpoints. FDA News. 22 August 2007 . 15 August 2008.
  11. Web site: Valneva, Dynavax Inks $1.5 Billion COVID-19 Vaccine Supply Deal with UK.
  12. Web site: VLA2001 COVID-19 Vaccine . Precision Vaccinations . 31 December 2020 . 11 January 2021.
  13. News: Covid: Clinical trials begin for Valneva vaccine . BBC News . 16 December 2020 . 11 January 2021.
  14. Web site: Valneva Initiates Phase 1/2 Clinical Study of Inactivated, Adjuvanted COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate . Valneva SE . 16 December 2020 . 18 December 2020.
  15. Web site: Dose Finding Study to Evaluate Safety, Tolerability and Immunogenicity of an Inactiviated Adjuvanted Sars-Cov-2 Virus Vaccine Candidate Against Covid-19 in Healthy Adults . clinicaltrials.gov . U.S. National Library of Medicine . 30 December 2020 . 11 January 2021.
  16. Web site: Valneva and Dynavax Announce Commercial Supply Agreement for Inactivated, Adjuvanted COVID-19 Vaccine – Valneva.
  17. News: Q&A with Valneva: UK Government scales up Covid-19 manufacturing . Nawrat . Allie . Pharmaceutical Technology . 6 August 2020 . 11 January 2021.
  18. Web site: Biotech Valneva: European Union to buy '30 million doses of unique West Lothian Covid-19 vaccine' . 14 January 2021 . Edinburgh News . 18 January 2021.
  19. News: Scotland factory to produce Valneva Covid vaccine . The Times . 18 January 2021. Yeomans . Emma .
  20. News: UK scraps Covid-19 vaccine deal with French firm Valneva. BBC News. 13 September 2021.
  21. News: U.K. Threw Covid Vaccine Maker Under Bus over Contract, Valneva CEO Says . Bloomberg.com . 24 November 2021 .
  22. Web site: Regulatory approval of COVID-19 Vaccine Valneva . 2022-04-14 . GOV.UK . en.
  23. Web site: Dunleavy . Kevin . 2022-05-17 . Valneva's COVID-19 vaccine faces uncertain future after Europe cancels supply contract . 2022-06-21 . Fierce Pharma . en.
  24. News: Malhi . Sabrina . 10 November 2023 . FDA approves first vaccine against mosquito-borne virus chikungunya . 13 November 2023 . The Washington Post.
  25. Web site: Sorgho . Olivier . 27 November 2023 . Valneva says EU regulator accepts its chikungunya vaccine application . 27 November 2023 . Reuters.
  26. News: Pfizer to buy 8.1% stake in French vaccines company Valneva . The Economic Times . 2022-06-21.