Scientists have Novavax’s vaccine results to be impressive and exemplary. If the company gets more leads going ahead, it promises of producing 100 million doses by the start of 2021.
On Tuesday, August 4, biotechnology company Novavax Inc (NASDAQ: NVAX) announced that it has found major success in the early-stage clinical trials for its coronavirus vaccine. Novavax said that its COVID-19 vaccine showed stellar immune response during the early-stage trials.
The phase one trial saw over 131 healthy participants between a diverse age range of 18 to 59. Of these, nearly 106 participants received one of the four dose levels of Novavax’s vaccine dubbed NVX-CoV2373. The company said that two doses for the potential vaccine were given through intramuscular injection at a span of 21 days apart.
Researchers said that the vaccine produced neutralizing antibodies that are necessary to build immunity to the virus and the killer T-cells. As per Novavax, the neutralizing bodies produced by the vaccine were higher than people who recovered from coronavirus.
Furthermore, as per the company’s observation, the vaccine use didn’t show other serious adverse events. However, some patients reported tenderness and pain after the first dose. While other patients reported headaches, fatigue, or muscle aches. As per the company, the NVX-CoV2373 vaccine is stable and allows handling in liquid formulation with storage anywhere between 2-8 degrees. In the official press release, Gregory M. Glenn, M.D., President, Research and Development at Novavax, said:
“The Phase 1 data demonstrate that NVX-CoV2373 with our Matrix-M adjuvant is a well‑tolerated COVID-19 vaccine with a robust immunogenicity profile. Using a stringent wild-type virus assay performed by investigators at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, NVX‑CoV2373 elicited neutralizing antibody titers greater than those observed in a pool of COVID‑19 patients with clinically significant disease.”
Novavax Vaccine Trial Results Pushes NVAX Stock Higher
In the aftermarket hours on Tuesday, the Novavax stock price (NASDAQ: NVAX) jumped 8.80% rising by over $13. The Novavax stock price has reached $171 with investors showing massive buying interest. At the time of writing, as the market opened on Wednesday, NVAX stock is up 12.84%, trading at $177.19.
Novavax has assured that if its vaccine leads to be effective, it can produce around 100 million doses by the start of 2021. This will be enough to provide the vaccine to 50 million people in two doses. Last month in July, Novavax secured $1.6 billion from the U.S. government to cover costs related to testing and manufacturing the vaccine.
Novavax is one of many contenders who is actively working on the coronavirus vaccine. While the Novavax vaccine has now entered Phase 1, five other vaccines have already entered Phase 3. However, Novavax uses a different formula compared to others. The NVX-CoV2373 vaccine uses synthesized pieces of surface proteins that coronavirus uses to infect humans.
John Moore, a virologist at Weill Cornell Medicine, has called the Novavax results as impressive. Dr. Moore who was not involved in the study said: “This is the first one I’m looking at and saying, ‘Yeah, I’d take that”.
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