Novavax COVID-19 vaccine proves effective in trials

Novavax has announced its COVID-19 vaccine, NVX-CoV2373, proved very effective in guarding against the disease.

According to a news release, in a U.K. phase 3 trial in the the vaccine showed 96.4 percent efficacy against mild, moderate, and severe COVID-19 and 100 percent protection from severe disease including hospitalization and death. A phase 2b trial in an area of South Africa where the majority of strains are B1.351 escape variants showed the vaccine had an efficacy of 55.4 percent.

"We are very encouraged by the data showing that NVX-CoV2373 not only provided complete protection against the most severe forms of disease, but also dramatically reduced mild and moderate disease across both trials," Stanley C. Erck, president and CEO of Novavax, says in the release. “Importantly, both studies confirmed efficacy against the variant strains. Today marks one year since the WHO officially declared the COVID-19 pandemic, and with this data in hand, we are even more motivated to advance our vaccine as a potential weapon in the fight to end the suffering caused by COVID-19."

In February, the company announced it would begin rolling reviews by the Food and Drug Administration, Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, European Medicines Agency, and Health Canada while Novavax completed its phase 3 trials in the U.K and U.S.

A month prior to that, the company reported the vaccine showed 89.3 percent efficacy in a Phase 3 clinical trial in the U.K. with more than 50 percent of study cases showing the U.K variant, and 60 percent efficacy in a Phase 2b clinical trial in South Africa. More than 90 percent of the cases in this test were the South African variant.