US biotech firm contracted to deliver 10 million doses of coronavirus vaccine candidate

Novavax, Inc., a Maryland-based biotech company, said Thursday it landed a major US Department of Defense contract to make its coronavirus vaccine candidate. 

The Defense Department will provide up to $60 million in funding for the vaccine, which goes by the experimental name NVX-COV2373. The company will make several of the components in the US.  

Noravax will deliver 10 million doses to the Department of Defense in 2020 that could be used in late-stage clinical trials or under an Emergency Use Authorization if the US Food and Drug Administration approves the vaccine.

How far away is the vaccine?: Novavax started a Phase I safety trial with volunteers in May. Those results are expected by July. If successful, Novavax will test in a larger number of patients. 

Novavax is ahead of several competitors, including Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi and Merck, that are developing a vaccine but are yet started clinical trials, according to the World Health Organization.

Pharmaceutical companies Moderna and AstraZeneca have candidates in clinical trials.