Biotech firm Novavax has announced that its Covid-19 vaccine has an estimated efficacy of 89.3% based on Phase three clinical trial results.
According to Novavax, the estimated vaccine efficacy of 89.3% is based on 62 confirmed Covid-19 infections among the trial’s 15,000 participants, of which 56 cases were found in the placebo group against six cases found in those who received the vaccine.
Following the announcement, the company's shares went up by more than 23% in after-hours trading.
Phase 3 trial results
In a statement, Novavax chief executive officer (CEO) Stanley Erck claimed that with the results, the firm “has the potential to play an important role in solving this global public health crisis.”
“We look forward to continuing to work with our partners, collaborators, investigators and regulators around the world to make the vaccine available as quickly as possible,” Erck added.
Aside from the 89.3% efficacy versus the original strain of the Covid-19 virus, the trial also found that the vaccine appeared to be 85.6% effective against the UK variant, also known as B.1.1.7.
According to the company, the Novavax vaccine, which contains synthesized pieces of the surface protein the coronavirus uses to infect humans, was well tolerated by the trial participants. The trial showed that “severe, serious, and medically attended adverse events occurred at low levels and were balanced between vaccine and placebo groups.”
Novavax first announced its Phase 1 trial results back in August, where the vaccine showed promising immune response.
During the same month, Canada announced its plan to buy 76 million doses of Novavax coronavirus vaccine. It aims to finalize the deal “as early as the second quarter of 2021.”
“This is an important step in our government’s efforts to secure a vaccine to keep Canadians safe and healthy, as the global pandemic evolves,” Anita Anand, Canada’s minister of public services and procurement, said in a statement.
The biotech firm also started a a late-stage trial of the vaccine in late December, which involved 30,000 people in the US and Mexico. It is unclear whether the latest results would suffice for the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to grant an emergency use authorization to Novavax.
Not as effective vs South Africa variant
However, a separate phase 2 trial in South Africa demonstrated that the Novavax vaccine is not as effective against a new strain spreading in that country.
The company said, the vaccine was still considered effective in protecting against the virus but its efficacy rate is only at 49.4%. Around 90% of the cases in South Africa contain the new variant.
As a result, Novavax plans to use a a modified version of the vaccine to better protect against the new strain “in the coming days and that a trial of the modified vaccine is scheduled in the second quarter of 2021.
According to White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Covid variant detected in South Africa poses a threat to antibody treatments.
After discussions with health experts in South Africa, Dr. Fauci said that preliminary data suggests there is “more of a threat” the strain would break away from some of the protections antibody treatments produce.
“It could be having some impact on protection for the monoclonal antibodies and perhaps even for the vaccine. We don’t know that,” Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said during a Q&A session at Schmidt Futures’ Forum on Preparedness.
According to him, researchers at the National Institutes of Health and across the country are examining the possible impact of the strain found in South Africa.
“People ask me, ‘Are you worried about it?’ These are not the kind of things I worry about, but it’s the kind of thing that I take very seriously,” Fauci said.
