Sanofi enters vaccine licensing deal with Novavax, giving beleaguered biotech a lifeline

LONDON — Novavax, the beleaguered maker of a Covid-19 vaccine, just got a boost of its own. 

The French pharma company Sanofi on Friday said it had reached a licensing deal to sell Novavax’s Covid shot going forward as well as to try to combine the vaccine with Sanofi’s own flu shot. The pact includes a $500 million upfront payment, with up to $700 million more on the table if certain regulatory and launch milestones are reached.

While Novavax’s stock soared during the pandemic as the vaccine race was underway, the company failed to get its shot authorized in the U.S. market until July 2022, long after the makers of mRNA vaccines had reaped billions in sales. Sales have sputtered along since then, and last year, the Maryland-based company warned that that it may not be able to stay in business.

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