Gritstone leaps on $433 million BARDA contract for COVID vaccine

28 September 2023

Shares of US biotech Gritstone bio (Nasdaq: GRTS) leapt almost 31% to $1.57 in pre-market trading on the news it had been awarded a contract by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to conduct a Phase IIb comparative study evaluating Gritstone’s self-amplifying mRNA (samRNA) vaccine candidate containing Spike plus other viral targets to protect against COVID-19.

The contract, which is valued at up to $433 million, was awarded as part of‘ Project NextGen,’ an initiative by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to advance a pipeline of new, innovative vaccines and therapeutics providing broader and more durable protection for COVID-19.

Gritstone bio will conduct a 10,000 participant, randomized Phase IIb double-blinded study to compare the efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity of the Gritstone next-generation COVID-19 vaccine candidate with an approved COVID-19 vaccine.

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