CEPI, Dynavax increase collaboration to include another $77M of adjuvant for COVID-19 vaccines

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and Dynavax Technologies Corporation expanded the terms of a manufacturing agreement last week to include an additional $77 million for adjuvant used in COVID-19 vaccines.

The funding injection, provided in the form of a forgivable loan repayable to CEPI upon adjuvant sales, will bring the total worth of their agreement to $176 million for 2021. It will cover supplies of Dynavax’s CpG 1018 vaccine adjuvant. As part of the arrangement, the adjuvant produced will be first offered for purchase to CEPI development partners at agreed-upon price limits to boost the overall availability of vaccine doses this year.

“By expanding our collaboration with Dynavax, we can scale up the potential number of doses of COVID-19 vaccines available in 2021 through the CEPI-led COVAX R&D portfolio,” CEPI CEO Richard Hatchett said. “Through this agreement, we are securing additional supplies of adjuvant for vaccine developers which are committed to equitable access through COVAX.”

As a result of the agreement, benefiting vaccine developers will likely utilize the adjuvant to make potentially hundreds of millions of additional doses in 2021. These will be rapidly manufactured for procurement and allocation through COVAX, which is working to equitably distribute COVID-19 vaccines to all countries.