shares of the french biotech valneva are getting a lift after the company said it had signed a supply deal with the european commission for 234 million doses of its experimental covid19 vaccine deliveries would begin in the second quarter of 2022 if the vaccine which isn’t yet authorized or approved anywhere in the world receives authorization from the european medicines agency the company said near midday tuesday the european commission has an option to increase the total purchase agreement to 60 million doses