Novavax Inc said Tuesday that its experimental COVID-19 vaccine produced antibodies opposed to the new coronavirus and gave the impression of being safe, according to initial knowledge of a small early-stage clinical trial.
Maryland-based biotechnology firm said its vaccine candidate, NVX-CoV2373, produced higher levels of antibodies in healthy volunteers after two doses than those discovered in recovered COVID-19 patients, increasing hopes for their eventual success.
The addition of its Matrix-M adjuvant, a substance designed to stimulate the body’s immune response, advanced the effect of the vaccine on the study, the company said.
The Novavax vaccine is among the first in a handful of systems determined for U.S. investment under Operation Warp Speed, the White House’s program to increase vaccines, and remedies that can fight the virus.
Vaccines and effective remedies are essential to end a pandemic that has killed more than 695,000 people worldwide.
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Novavax’s leading director of studies, Gregory Glenn, told Reuters that the company would soon begin much larger complex clinical trials and that it could gain enough knowledge to download regulatory approvals starting in December.
In July, the U.S. government agreed to pay Novavax $1.6 billion to cover the prices of testing and vaccine production, in order to buy one hundred million doses through January 2021.
The trial, which began last May, tested the vaccine on 106 subjects over the age of 18 to 59 compared to placebo. Phase I of the study tested the protection of the vaccine and its ability to induce immune responses.
He tested doses of five micrograms and two five micrograms of the vaccine, with an adjuvant.
The company said that by the time the vaccination had induced higher degrees of side effects, such as swelling and pain at the injection site, which are not serious, only one player has a fever.
Phase II of the review will be conducted in several countries, adding the United States. It will assess the vaccine’s ability to prevent infections or the severity of COVID-19, as well as protection and immune response, in a wider diversity of volunteers.