Novavax Inc. tweaked its existing deal with fellow biotech Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd. to produce over 2 billion doses of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine NVX‑CoV2373 annually, starting in mid-2021.

Serum Institute, which holds exclusive rights to the vaccine in India, will now manufacture the antigen component of Gaithersburg, Md.-based Novavax's vaccine to add 1 billion doses to the production when all planned manufacturing capacity has been brought online.

NVX‑CoV2373 includes Novavax's proprietary Matrix‑M adjuvant, a substance that could help people receiving the vaccine to have a stronger immune response.

Novavax President and CEO Stanley Erck said the vaccine is now undergoing phase 2 clinical trials, which started in August, and may start phase 3 trials worldwide in the coming weeks.

Aside from India, the vaccine's antigen component is also being manufactured in other sites with other partners, including Biofabri S.L. in Spain, Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies U.S.A. Inc. in the U.S. and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. in Japan.

Previously, Novavax obtained $2 billion in funding for its global coronavirus vaccine program, including up to $388 million from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, a partnership between public, private, philanthropic and civil society organizations launched at Davos, Switzerland, in 2017, with the aim of developing vaccines to address future epidemics.

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