Novavax Covid Vaccine Effective Against Original & UK Strain
Novavax, the American vaccine development company has recently stated that its two-shot Covid-19 vaccine has showcased an overall efficacy of 89.3% in a major Phase 3 clinical trial in Britain. The coronavirus vaccine has shown high efficacy against the UK variant. Meanwhile, the other results showcased that the vaccine provides less protection against the South African variant, which is a highly transmissible variant.
According to the biotechnology firm, it commenced working on new vaccines against emerging strains in the beginning of January 2021. Selection of the ideal vaccine candidates can be expected in the coming days so that clinical testing can be carried out in the second quarter of the year.
Stanley C. Erck, Novavax President and CEO stated that NVX-CoV2373 is capable of playing a significant role in solving the global public health crisis going on due to the novel coronavirus. He further informed that the company is looking forward to continuing to work with global partners, collaborators, investigators and regulators so that NVX-CoV2373, the Novavax Covid-19 vaccine can be made available as soon as possible. The medicine regulators are yet to assess the vaccine, which is planned to be made in Teesside. If the Novavax vaccine is approved, 60m doses will be reserved for the United Kingdom.
It must be noted that the Novavax vaccine was among the 6 candidates backed by a US government project. Furthermore, trial tests for the vaccine are going on in the US and Mexico.
The Novavax shot will inject the same molecules directly into the body to evoke an immune response as compared to the Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines, which delivered the genetic instructions for protein production of the virus to human cells.
The efficacy of Novavax vaccine came 95.6% against the original coronavirus strain. The efficacy was noted to be 85.6% against B.1.1.7. The efficacy was found to be much lower in a South African trial.
The recent announcement made by Novavax has put pressure on Johnson & Johnson, which is expected to announce its phase 3 trial results in the forthcoming week.
Also Read: Does Your Health Insurance Policy Cover Vaccinations?
Disclaimer: This article is issued in the general public interest and meant for general information purposes only. Readers are advised not to rely on the contents of the article as conclusive in nature and should research further or consult an expert in this regard.
