Pfizer is paying $30 million to use Novavax’s adjuvant technology to improve the efficacy of two of the Big Pharma’s vaccine programs.
The tech, called Matrix-M, is designed to trigger an immune response by T cells. Sanofi already secured a nonexclusive license to use Matrix-M as part of a wider-ranging deal to co-commercialize Novavax’s COVID-19 shot Nuvaxovid back in 2024.
Pfizer, which oversees a significant vaccines business, hasn’t given any indication of exactly how it plans to implement the tech, while Novavax’s release only mentions that the Big Pharma has secured the nonexclusive right to use the adjuvant for “up to two disease areas.”
Beyond the $30 million upfront payment, Novavax could be in line for up to $500 million in development and sales milestones as well as tiered high mid-single-digit percentage royalty payments on sales should a resulting vaccine make it to market.
“The Novavax team is excited about this agreement with Pfizer to access our Matrix-M technology in its future development plans,” Novavax CEO John Jacobs said in the Jan. 20 release.
“This agreement, along with other recently formed partnerships, is further evidence of the potential utility of Matrix-M for the development of new products,” Jacobs added.
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Pfizer’s most recent earnings results suggested the company’s vaccine offerings are struggling in the face of a U.S. market that is currently proving unfavorable for immunizations.
Among the shots that received top billing in Pfizer’s third-quarter earnings report last November, only the tick-borne encephalitis shot TicoVac posted sales gains (PDF). Meanwhile, the Prevnar family of pneumococcal vaccines, the company’s respiratory syncytial virus shot Abrysvo and the COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty all suffered year-over-year sales declines.
The Pfizer agreement is a sign that Novavax is getting back on track after a rocky period that saw two of the biopharma’s programs briefly placed on hold in late 2024 in response to a case of nerve disease from a former participant in a trial of the biotech’s COVID-influenza combination vaccine. More recently, the company consolidated its Maryland-based locations in order to net savings.
Jacobs has cited partnerships as being key to the company’s long-term growth strategy.
