(AOF) – Faced with the Omicron outbreak, Germany has ordered 80 million doses of a vaccine specifically targeting the variant, which is expected to arrive in April or May, Reuters says citing Health Minister Karl Lauterbach at a press conference. The country has also ordered four million doses of the recently approved Novavax vaccine – considered more acceptable to vaccine skeptics – and 11 million doses of the new Valneva vaccine, which is pending market authorization. .
Before that, the European Commission ordered a maximum of 60 million doses of the Valneva vaccine and the Kingdom of Bahrain one million.
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= / Key points / =
– Specialist in the development of prophylactic vaccines against infectious diseases with limited therapeutic options;
– Revenue of € 110m € bn drawn from Europe for 56%, ahead of America (27%), then Asia-Oceania (9%) and Africa-Middle East (8%) ;
– Business model: portfolio of diversified vaccines for the general public, financing of clinical developments through a specialized infrastructure, 2 commercial vaccines (Ixiaro and Dukoral against Japanese encephalitis and cholera) and vaccine distribution rights for third parties;
– Capital 15.07% owned by the Grimaud la Corbière group, 8.78% by the British MVM Life Science and 8.20% by BPI France, Frédéric Grimaud chairing the 5-member supervisory board and Thamas Lingelbach chairing the management board ;
– Solid balance sheet with € 449m in equity against € 196m in debt, reinforced by net cash of € 330m in cash at the end of June, and then by listing on the Nasdaq and the 1
er
s payments from Pfizer (€ 140 million) and the British government.
= / Issues / =
– Medium-term strategy for the further development of the Ixiaro and Dukoral vaccines to finance its R&D, extension of the manufacturing network (3 sites, in Scotland, Sweden and Austria) and partnerships enhancing the group’s assets;
– Innovation strategy inherent to the business model, supported by € 85 million in R&D investments, with 3 main assets and 3 preclinical programs:
– the only vaccine in clinical development against Lyme disease,
– the only single injection vaccine against chikungunya,
– the only inactivated and adjuvanted whole virus COVID-19 vaccine currently in clinical trial in Europe,
– candidate vaccines against human metapneumovirus, parvovirus and norovirus;
– Environmental strategy for the regular reduction of environmental impacts;
– Good visibility of the activity thanks to agreements with:
– the British government (orders for 100 million doses of anti-Covid vaccines by 2022 and options on 190 million by 2025, i.e. € 1.4 billion in total),
– with Pfizer to co-develop and market a vaccine against Lyme disease for $ 308 million,
– with the American authorities for the Ixiario vaccine against Japanese encephalitis ($ 70 million),
– with Bavarian Nordic for the marketing and distribution of specialized vaccines,
– with Batavia Biosciences for the development of an inexpensive vaccine against polio,
– with the Butantan institute for a vaccine against chikingunya for low-income countries.
= / Challenges / =
– Sensitivity to the results of studies of vaccines against Lyme disease (phase 2) in particular (marketing request for 2024) and against chikingunya and Covid 19 (phase 3);
– Outcome of discussions with the European Commission on the supply of 60 million doses of anti -Covid vaccine and marketing of this vaccine by the end of the year;
– Impact of the pandemic: stable turnover at € 47.5 million and widening of the net loss to € 86.4 million due to R&D expenditure on the Covid 19;
– 2021 objectives: excluding Covid vaccine, turnover between € 80 and 105 million and R&D expenses between € 65 and 75 million.
Boost for French pharmacy
At the end of a recent CSIS, the French authorities announced an unprecedented amount of credits (7 billion euros): 1.5 billion for university hospital research, 2 billion for investment in health via bpi France , 1.5 billion in aid for the relocation of industrial projects, and 2 billion to strengthen investment in three sectors of the future (bioproduction, digital medicine, and pandemic preparedness). In addition, the annual growth in drug expenses reimbursed by Medicare will be 2.4%, which should generate at least 0.5% growth in laboratory turnover,
Above all, the normal drug marketing procedure will be accelerated (up to 500 days saved) if the actual benefit is sufficient.