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An experimental Covid-19 vaccine appears to offer strong protection in late-stage studies in the UK and South Africa, the manufacturer Novavax said.
The protein-based candidate vaccine, called NVX-CoV2373, was shown to be 89.3% effective in preventing coronavirus in participants of its phase 3 clinical trial in the UK, according to the company.
The trial involved more than 15,000 people between the ages of 18 and 84, of whom 27% were older than 65, Novavax said.
“NVX-CoV2373 is the first vaccine to demonstrate not only high clinical efficacy against Covid-19, but also significant clinical efficacy against rapidly emerging UK and South African variants,” said Stanley Erck, President and CEO of the firm. biotechnology.
The trial was carried out in conjunction with the UK government’s Vaccine Task Force, and its chairman Clive Dix said in a statement: “These are spectacular results, and we are very pleased to have assisted Novavax with the development of this vaccine.
“The demonstrated efficacy against emerging variants is also extremely encouraging. This is an incredible achievement.”
On January 11, Reuters reported that the EU was “close” to signing a contract with Novavax for up to 200 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate. An EU official said a deal was “imminent”.
While Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna jabs should be kept at ultra-low temperatures, Novavax jab is stable for up to three months in a normal refrigerator.
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However, the positive news was offset by results that showed it to be much less effective against a highly transmissible variant of the coronavirus first identified in South Africa.
A small trial in South Africa enrolled just over 4,400 participants from September to mid-January, during which time the B.1.351 variant, which contains critical mutations throughout the virus’s peak protein, was rapidly spreading throughout the country.
The overall efficacy was 49.4% in this trial, but the figure increased to 60% among the 94% of the trial participants who were HIV negative.
Novavax said it began work on new vaccines against emerging strains in early January and hopes to select ideal candidates in the next few days and then begin clinical trials in the second quarter of the year.
Unlike the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which use mRNA technology, the Novavax injection injects parts of the coronavirus into humans to elicit an immune response.
Additional AFP reports
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