Novavax soars on Sanofi vaccine licensing deal

Novavax shares surged more than 98 percent Friday after the company signed a $1.2 billion licensing agreement with Sanofi that includes commercializing a combined COVId-19 and flu shot.

Novavax will receive $500 million in upfront payments as well as a further $700 million if all development, regulatory, and launch milestones are met, according to a statement Friday. Novavax, which will receive tiered royalties on any vaccine sales, said Sanofi is also taking a minority equity stake of about 5 perent in the US company.

The pact links two big players in the vaccine world that both missed out on the rush to develop and commercialize COVId shots quickly during the pandemic. Amid various setbacks, Sanofi and Novavax ceded tens of billions of dollars in sales to nimbler messenger-RNA developers including the Pfizer-BioNTech alliance and Moderna.

Now, Sanofi will have the rights to drive sales of Novavax’s COVId19 shot worldwide from next year, except for in India, Japan, and South Korea, where Novavax already has advance purchasing agreements. The French drugmaker also has the sole license to use Novavax’s protein-based COVId shot in combination with its flu shot, which it said will offer patients “enhanced convenience and protection against two serious respiratory viruses.”