The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is to purchase 5 million doses of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine by Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp (高端疫苗), the Hsinchu-based firm said in a regulatory filing yesterday.
The procurement agreement also includes a subsequent purchase of up to 5 million more doses, Medigen said.
The company did not disclose further details, citing terms agreed with the CDC.
Photo: CNA
The delivery of the drug, pending approval, would have a positive effect on the firm’s finances and operations, it said.
Medigen, which is running a phase 2 clinical trial of the vaccine with 3,752 participants, told the Taipei Times earlier this month that it has started large-scale antigen production for the drug.
The company said it would in the middle of next month submit an interim report on the trial to health authorities and hopes that it will gain emergency use authorization for the drug as soon as possible, it has said.
Medigen on May 11 said that it had given a third dose of the vaccine to 45 participants of the trial to test the immunogenicity and safety of a potential booster shot.
Primary data on the trial would be generated early next quarter, it said, adding that these would also be used to study the drug’s efficacy to prevent infections with new COVID-19 variants and for future vaccine development.
Additional reporting by Kao Shih-ching
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