Valneva: Scottish Enterprise funding boost for French vaccine firm

Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited Valneva's manufacturing site in Livingston in January last year

The French company which had a major Covid vaccine order cancelled by the UK government has been awarded £20m in funding from Scottish Enterprise.

Valneva said phase three trails have since found it works well at priming the immune system to fight the virus.

The pharmaceutical firm, which has a manufacturing facility in Livingston, West Lothian, is currently seeking regulatory approval for its jab.

Scottish Enterprise said the grants would support its future growth.

• UK scraps Covid-19 vaccine deal with French firm Valneva

• Javid: Valneva vaccine would not have got UK approval

• Vaccine firm Valneva seeks apology over Javid comments

The first grant, of up to £12.5m, will support research and development related to the manufacture of VLA2001, Valneva's Covid-19 vaccine candidate.

It is an inactivated whole virus vaccine, meaning it contains a dead version of coronavirus that cannot cause disease. This is the same way that flu and polio vaccines are made.

The second grant, of up to £7.5m, will support research and development connected to the company's manufacturing processes for other vaccines, including Lyme Disease and the mosquito-borne viral infection Chikungunya.

The funding will be paid over the next three years, starting from next month.

The award comes fives months after a deal for 100 million Covid vaccine doses - said by the company to be worth up to £1.2bn - was scrapped.

The company said that the UK government served notice over allegations of a breach of the agreement, which it "strenuously denies", and it resulted in its share price plunging 35% at the time.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid told parliament it would not have gained regulatory approval by the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

However, he later amended his comments in the parliament's official record to say that Valneva's vaccine had not yet got and may not get approval.

The following month blood results from volunteers who received the jab indicated high levels of neutralising antibodies against Covid.

The vaccine also outperformed the AstraZeneca vaccine on this measure in head-to-head tests.

In November Valneva confirmed it was seeking an apology from the UK government for casting doubt on whether its Covid jab would get approval.

Valneva also said it would not rule out seeking "legal recourse" for loss of earnings and damages.

The company's then chief financial officer David Lawrence acknowledged that Mr Javid had later corrected himself but said the damage he did to the company was significant.

'Life-saving vaccines'

Meanwhile, Valneva said the new funding boost would put the company at the forefront of life sciences and vaccine development in Scotland.

Thomas Lingelbach, chief executive officer, added: "From the only inactivated, whole virus Covid-19 vaccine candidate in clinical development in Europe to the most clinically advanced vaccine candidate against chikungunya in the world, Scottish Enterprise's investment will support progress across Valneva's research and development portfolio - as well as jobs and growth in Scotland."

Adrian Gillespie, chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, welcomed the company's decision to manufacture its Covid vaccine in Scotland.

He said: "It is a huge vote of confidence in our life sciences sector and its highly skilled workforce, with one of the largest and most advanced vaccine manufacturing sites in the world now firmly anchored in Scotland and set to export its life-saving vaccines across the world."

Ivan McKee, Scottish Business Minister, said: "Valneva is a valued contributor to our life sciences sector and the Livingston facility is an important asset, developing and manufacturing vaccines for the prevention and treatment of several infectious diseases.

"This funding package will support high quality jobs create, drive further research and underpin the company's operations in Scotland."

The grants signed with Scottish Enterprise are tied to the safeguarding and creation of jobs at Valneva's Livingston site.

In November Valneva signed an agreement with the European Commission to supply up to 60 million doses of its Covid vaccine over two years.

It is expected to deliver its first doses in April, subject to European Medicines Agency approval.