VIENNA (Reuters) – French-Austrian biotech firm Valneva is in talks with a number of countries over further contracts to supply its COVID-19 vaccine candidate and has the option to boost its production capacity in Scotland, its chief executive told Reuters.
Valneva, which earlier on Thursday said its vaccine was shown to be efficient as a booster following the same shot as an initial vaccination, confirmed it was targeting regulatory approval in the first quarter of next year.
Approvals for an initial two-shot course, pursued in parallel in the European Union, Britain and Bahrain, would hopefully pave the way also for green lights for booster use shortly thereafter, CEO Thomas Lingelbach told Reuters TV.
After its first supply agreement with Britain fell apart, it has signed advance purchase agreements for up to 60 million doses with the European Union, and a smaller deal with Bahrain.
(Reporting by Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich; Writing by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Paul Carrel)
