LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Shares of French pharmaceutical group Valneva tumbled on Monday after the UK government terminated a contract for the supply of at least 100m doses of its Covid-19 vaccine.

The UK government has alleged the company was in breach of its obligations under the supply agreement, but Valneva said it "strenuously denies this".

"Valneva is continuing its VLA2001 development plan," it said. "Testing for the company's pivotal Phase 3 trial, Cov-Compare, is ongoing at Public Health England."

Valneva recently announced that its Phase 3 results are expected to be available early in the fourth quarter and that these will form part of its rolling submission for conditional approval of the vaccine with the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

Subject to the data and MHRA approval, Valneva reckons that initial approval for VLA2001 could be granted in late 2021.

"Valneva has worked tirelessly, and to its best efforts, on the collaboration with HMG including investing significant resources and effort to respond to HMG's requests for variant-derived vaccines," it said. "Valneva continues to be committed to the development of VLA2001 and will increase its efforts with other potential customers to ensure that its inactivated vaccine can be used in the fight against the pandemic."

At 0920 BST, Valneva shares were down 35% at €12.99.

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