Pharma BD Deal Intelligence
In August 2021 Takeda and Novavax agreed for Takeda to manufacture in Japan and supply the Government of Japan with 150 million doses of Novavax's recombinant protein nanoparticle COVID-19 vaccine NVX-CoV2373 (TAK-019), under a technology-transfer and license arrangement (deal value estimated ~$350M). The agreement became operational: on April 19, 2022 Japan's MHLW granted Takeda manufacturing and marketing approval for Nuvaxovid for primary and booster immunization in adults 18+, and Takeda began distributing government-purchased doses. Demand proved far below plan — on February 13, 2023 Takeda disclosed that the Japanese government had canceled the remaining 141.76 million of the 150 million doses, citing low uptake (Takeda said the cancellation would not materially affect its forecast). On December 25, 2023 Japan ended distribution of Nuvaxovid as the supplied product reached expiry, with roughly 7.14 million doses discarded. Net: the deal was executed and the vaccine reached the Japanese market, but only a small fraction of the contracted volume was ultimately used.