Pfizer will buy 8.1% of the capital of the vaccine company Valneva

PARIS (Reuters) – US healthcare giant Pfizer Inc agreed to invest 90.5 million euros ($95.24 million) to buy an 8.1 percent stake in French vaccine company Valneva, as the two companies announced progress in their partnership to treat Lyme disease.

Pfizer will buy the stake in Valneva, which is also working on a COVID-19 vaccine, at €9.49 per share, through a reserved share capital increase.

Valneva will use the proceeds from Pfizer’s equity investment to support its contribution to the development of the Phase 3 Lyme disease program.

Valneva and Pfizer have also updated the terms of the Collaboration and Licensing Agreement we announced on April 30, 2020 for a VLA15 Lyme vaccine candidate disease.

“Pfizer’s investment in Valneva underscores the quality of the work we’ve done together over the past two years and is a strong acknowledgment of Valneva’s expertise in vaccines,” said Valneva CEO Thomas Lingelbach.

They added that, as previously announced on April 26, 2022, Pfizer plans to begin a Phase 3 study of VLA15 in the third quarter of 2022.

Under the revised agreement, Valneva will now fund 40% of the remaining joint development costs, up from 30% previously.

Pfizer will pay tiered royalties to Valneva ranging from 14% to 22%. In addition, royalties will be supplemented by up to $100 million in tiers payable to Valneva based on cumulative sales, the two companies added.

(1 US dollar = 0.9502 Euro)

(Reporting by Dominic Vidalon; Editing in Spanish by Benjamin Michias Valencia)