VOA慢速英语--美国政府向诺瓦克斯医药提供16亿美元资金 用于新冠病毒疫苗研发

The United States has awarded $1.6 billion to Novavax to pay for testing and manufacturing of a possible coronavirus vaccine¹.

The Department of Health and Human Services announced the government's choice of the Maryland-based company.

The award is the biggest yet under an effort called "Operation Warp² Speed." President Donald Trump³ and his aides set up the program to speed up development of vaccines⁴ and treatments to fight COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

The department released a statement from Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. He said the addition of Novavax's candidate (vaccine) to Operation Warp Speed "increases the odds⁵ that we will have at least one safe, effective vaccine as soon as the end of this year."

The Reuters news agency spoke⁶ with Novavax Chief Executive Stanley Erck. He noted⁷ that, "What this Warp Speed award does is it pays for production of 100 million doses, which ... may be completed by January or February of next year."

The award will also help pay for the cost of a large Phase III trial - the final stage of human testing, which could begin as early as October.

Separately, the U.S. government awarded $450 million to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals⁸ to make and supply its antibody treatment for COVID-19. Just a day earlier, Regeneron announced that it has started Phase III testing to measure the effectiveness of patients' antibodies in preventing and treating the disease.

Tuesday's announcements follow a $456 million government investment in Johnson & Johnson's vaccine candidate in March and a $486 million award to Moderna Incorporated in April. The government also promised up to $1.2 billion in support in May for a vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca with Britain's Oxford⁹ University.

The U.S. government also gave Emergent BioSolutions $628 million in June to expand the country's ability to make a possible vaccine and drugs to treat COVID-19. In total, the government currently supports over 50 programs to develop vaccines and treatments for COVID-19.

What is Novavax vaccine?

Novavax is somewhat of an unknown in the race for a coronavirus vaccine. The company has yet to produce a licensed¹⁰ vaccine of any kind. And it did not start human safety trials for the coronavirus vaccine until late May.

In May, Novavax received $388 million from a group called the Coalition¹¹ for Epidemic¹² Preparedness Innovations. And the U.S. Defense¹³ Department gave the company $60 million in June to support manufacturing of 10 million doses of its vaccine in 2020.

The Novavax vaccine works together with an adjuvant -- a substance that strengthens the body's ability to fight the virus. The French drug-maker Sanofi uses the same basic technology to make flu vaccine "so the risk of us not succeeding is pretty low," noted Gregory Glenn. He is a doctor and president of research and development for Novavax.

Currently, Novavax makes its adjuvant in Sweden. The company is hoping to build factories in the U.S., Europe and India.

Chinese effort to develop vaccines

While coronavirus cases in the U.S. are rising, China's government has reported more success in controlling the disease. This makes it harder for China to conduct large-scale human trials for a possible vaccine. With concerns over issues of quality and safety, Chinese officials are facing difficulties in persuading the U.S. and European countries to cooperate.

This has forced China to bring the government, the military and businesses together in the race to develop a coronavirus vaccine.

China is behind eight of the 19 vaccine candidates listed by the World Health Organization in human trials.

Johns Hopkins University's Coronavirus Resource Center estimated that, as of July 7, the virus has infected nearly 3 million people in the United States. About 130,000 U.S. deaths have resulted from COVID-19. Around the world, the disease has infected nearly 12 million people and killed 540,000.

I'm Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

odds - n. the chance that something will happen

executive - n. a person who manages or directs other people in a company

dose - n. the amount of medicine that is taken at one time

phase - n. a step in a process

stage - n. a particular point in the development of something

licensed - adj. having official permission to have or do something

conduct - v. to plan and do something

1 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

2 warp   

vt.弄歪，使翘曲，使不正常，歪曲，使有偏见

参考例句：

• The damp wood began to warp.这块潮湿的木材有些翘曲了。
• A steel girder may warp in a fire.钢梁遇火会变弯。

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

5 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 pharmaceuticals   

n.医药品；药物( pharmaceutical的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the development of new pharmaceuticals 新药的开发
• The companies are pouring trillions of yen into biotechnology research,especially for pharmaceuticals and new seeds. 这些公司将大量资金投入生物工艺学研究，尤其是药品和新种子方面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

10 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？

11 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

12 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

13 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。