BREAKING NEWS: Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine prevents 96% of infections against original strain of the virus including 86.3% of UK ‘super-covid’ cases – but is only 55.4% effective against the South Africa variant
- Novavax’s vaccine uses synthesized pieces of the surface protein that the coronavirus uses to invade human cells and spurs antibody production
- In a late-stage UK study, the vaccine was shown to be 96% effective against the original COVID-19 strain and 100% effective at preventing severe disease
- Against the B 1.1.7. variant, which originated in the UK, it was 86.3% effective
- However, it was just 55.4% effective at preventing illness against the South African variant
Novavax Inc’s experimental COVID-19 vaccine is safe and 96 percent effective at preventing infection, but possibly not against all variants, an interim analysis shows.
On Thursday, the Gaithersburg, Maryland-based company released results from two clinical trials, one held in the UK and the other in South Africa.
Both countries have seen highly infectious variants crop up in recent months that have spread around the world.
The analysis found it was 86.3 percent effective against the UK variant but just 55.4 percent effective against the South African variant.
In a late-stage UK study, the Novavax coronavirus vaccine was shown to be 96% effective at preventing COVID-19 infection. Pictured: Three potential coronavirus vaccines are kept in a tray at Novavax labs in Gaithersburg, Maryland, March 2020
Novavax, which has not produced a vaccine before, was one of six vaccine candidates to be given funding for research and development by the Trump’s administration’s Operation Warp Speed last summer.
However, no contracts were signed with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to supply doses of the vaccine.
Its shot contains synthesized pieces of the surface protein that the coronavirus uses to invade human cells.
The idea is that the protein will cause human cells to spur production of antibodies to fight the infection.
This technology is a more traditional method of administering vaccines compared to the newer technology in the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines that has never been used before.
The biotechnology company has been running trials in Britain, South Africa, the U.S. and Mexico.
However, the U.S.-based, late-stage trial did not begin until December after Novavax had issues in scaling up the vaccine’s manufacturing.
The news come less than two months after Novavax released data from an interim analysis shows.
That data showed, that the vaccine was 95.6 percent effective against the original virus and 85.6 percent effective against the B 1.1.7. variant.
At the time, the mid-stage study in South Africa found that the shot was just 49.3 percent effective against that country’s variant.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.