Novavax’s covid-19 vaccine proved 90.4% effective
Biotech firm Novavax announced on Monday that its coronavirus vaccine is 90.4% effective. The company has recently concluded a phase three clinical trial of almost 30,000 participants across the United States and Mexico. Thus far, its vaccine proved to be safe, as well as useful.
According to Novavax, it has found the two-dose vaccine to be 100% effective in preventing moderate and severe diseases. However, it’s 93% effective against some variants. The company is currently planning to file for authorization with the FDA in the third quarter. Without the Food and Drug Administration’s approval, the company won’t be able to begin distributing its vaccine.
Dr. Gregory Glenn, Novavax’s president of research and development, stated that the late-stage trial confirmed that NVX-CoV2373 offers encouraging tolerability, along with a safety profile. He added that these data show consistent, high levels of efficacy, reaffirming the ability of Novavax’s vaccine to prevent coronavirus amid the ongoing genetic evolution of the virus.
After the announcement, the company’s shares skyrocketed by more than 9% in premarket trading. The stock soared by about 1% in intraday trading.
The United States already has an abundance of Covid-19 vaccines available. So, the government may decide to donate the Novavax doses to other countries.
The company expects to see a large market in the U.S. for booster shots – noted Novavax CEO, Stanley Erck. He added that researchers see levels of antibodies wane after 6 to 12 months. That means people will need one boost. Maybe, they will also need to get additional doses on an annual basis or some period.
What are Novavax’s trial’s results?
According to the company’s analysis, there have been 77 confirmed Covid infections among the trial’s 29,960 participants. However, Novavax noted that 63 cases of Covid were observed in the placebo group, while it observed only 14 cases in the group that received its two-dose vaccine. Novavax stated that the vaccine’s estimated efficacy is 90.4%.
