By Sam Boughedda
Investing.com — Shares of French vaccine company Valneva SE ADR (NASDAQ:VALN) surged 24% Wednesday on news that the European Commission has approved an agreement that will see the company supply up to 60 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine over two years.
The deal includes approximately 27 million doses in 2022, with the EC having an option to increase its initial purchase to a total of 60 million doses by the end of 2023.
Valneva's Nasdaq-listed shares traded around $50.33 mark following the news.
According to an article from Dr. Amir Khan at Al Jazeera, Valneva's vaccine is different from other Covid-19 vaccines in that it aims to stimulate an immune response to the entire virus, rather than just the spike protein.
"We are deeply committed to bringing an alternative vaccine solution to the market as quickly as possible and continue to work tirelessly to achieve that," said Thomas Lingelbach, Valneva's CEO.
"Our Phase 3 results confirmed the advantages often associated with inactivated vaccines and we continue to believe that our differentiated vaccine candidate could make an important contribution to the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic," he added.