Epidemic response group to invest up to $384 million in Novavax’s coronavirus vaccine

(Reuters) – The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) will invest up to $384 million to support the development and production of Novavax Inc’s vaccine candidate against the coronavirus, the company said on Monday.

CEPI, which was set up to fight emerging epidemics, said in March it will invest $4.4 million into deals with Novavax and Britain’s University of Oxford to develop potential vaccines against COVID-19.

CEPI has so far invested in the development of six vaccine candidates against COVID-19, including projects with the U.S. firms CureVac, Inovio Pharmaceuticals , Moderna , and with the University of Queensland in Australia.

(Reporting by Manojna Maddipatla in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)