France’s Valneva to raise funds to bolster its inactivated COVID-19 vaccine

The French specialist vaccine developer Valneva plans to raise €85 million ($102.9 million) by selling around 7.1 million shares, as part of efforts to aid the development of its COVID-19 vaccine.

In a statement on Wednesday, Valneva said shares will be priced at $24.04 to $28.85 for each American depositary share and €10 to €12 per ordinary share.

The firm said previously that it plans to spend $80 million of the funds raised on its COVID-19 vaccine.

Valneva is working on a COVID-19 vaccine booster which may be able to offer protection against more variants of the virus because its vaccine stimulates a reaction to the inactivated whole COVID virus rather than just targeting the spike protein.

Valneva has in place a deal to supply the U.K. with up to 190 million doses, starting with an initial run of 60 million shots. The firm does not have any deal with the EU.

Valneva manufactures its vaccine in Livingston, Scotland.

In early April, the firm reported positive results from its Phase I and II trials. It said at the time that the vaccine was “highly immunogenic with more than 90% of all study participants developing significant levels of antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 virus spike protein across all dose groups tested.”

Phase III trials are ongoing. According to local reports, volunteer trials have started in Rochdale, just outside Manchester, U.K.

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