Novavax said there were no serious illness or death among those vaccinated. This is an indication that the Novavax vaccine may prevent the worse effects of the new SARS-CoV-2 variants.
At the same time, the Novavax vaccine is 86% effective against the highly contagious variant that was first discovered in the UK. Overall, the Novavax vaccine was about 90% effective, combining data from people infected with both versions of SARS-CoV-2.
In a smaller trial conducted in South Africa, where the volunteers were primarily exposed to a new and more contagious variant, Novavax vaccine is only 55% effective, but still completely prevents severe illness.
According to the Medical Director of Novavax Filip Dubovsky, the effectiveness of the vaccine in South Africa shows that it is still possible to use the vaccine in areas where variation occurs in South Africa.
Novavax is also developing new vaccines to combat new strains and plans to begin clinical trials in the second quarter of 2021.
The results from the final analysis of the UK trial are largely consistent with the provisional data released in January.
The company is expected to use the test data to apply for the vaccine in accordance with regulations in different countries. However, it is not clear when Novavax will apply for a license to use the vaccine in the US.
Novavax is expected to have data from a trial of 30,000 volunteers in the US and Mexico in early April.
Mr. Dubovsky said that the Novavax company is still planning to apply for licensing from British regulators as early as Q2 2021.
The UK trial, with more than 15,000 people aged 18-84, evaluated the efficacy of the Novavax vaccine as the newly discovered UK variant is spreading widely.
However, the efficacy of the Novavax vaccine in the South African trial dropped to about 49% when data from HIV-positive participants was analyzed.
The Novavax vaccine could be licensed for use in the US as soon as May if US regulators decide that data from UK trials is sufficient to make a decision. However, it may take several more months if the regulator wants to look at data from the US trial for the first time, Novavax’s chief executive told Reuters in early March.
Novavax’s vaccine factories will run at full capacity by April, CEO Stanley Erck said.
Novavax plans to produce the two-dose vaccine at eight production sites, including at India’s Serum Institute, according to Reuters.
If licensed, the Novavax vaccine will follow up with the three Covid-19 vaccines previously approved for use in the UK, Pfizer / BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca.
Maryland-based Novavax Company (USA) has received $ 1.6 billion in funding from the US for vaccine testing and guaranteed the distribution of 100 million doses of vaccine.