INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Novavax is already stockpiling vaccine at six operating manufacturing locations.Chicago: Novavax Inc said on Thursday its coronavirus
vaccine was 89.3 per cent effective in preventing Covid-19 in a trial conducted in the UK, and was nearly as effective in protecting against
the more highly contagious variant first discovered in the UK, according to a preliminary analysis.A mid-stage trial of the vaccine in South
Africa, where a troubling new variant of the virus is common, showed 60 per cent effectiveness among people who did not have HIV.Novavax
shares surged 34 per cent in after-hours trading following release of the trial results on the same day the US reported its first cases of
the South African variant.Novavax is already stockpiling vaccine at six operating manufacturing locations, and said it expects a total of
eight plants in seven countries to produce at the rate of 2 billion doses per year, including from the Serum Institute of India (SII).SII,
the world's biggest vaccine maker, has applied to local authorities to conduct a small domestic trial of Novavax's Covid-19 vaccine.American
pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, which sought approval from India's drug regulator Drugs Controller General of India ((DGCI) for emergency use
authorisation of its coronavirus vaccine, clarified storage concerns about its vaccine.Pfizer requires a temperature of minus 70 degrees
Celsius and experts have raised questions that India's existing cold storage facilities do not match these conditions
shippers to refrigeration units that are commonly available in hospitals
It also said that the pricing of the vaccine will depend on the doses ordered and the advance commitments with the government.SII expected a
decision on an Indian trial of Novavax's vaccine soon, chief executive Adar Poonawalla told Reuters on Friday, hours after the US company
expect it will be two to three months before they are ready to apply for authorisation with regulators.The UK trial, which enrolled 15,000
people aged 18 to 84, is expected to be used to apply for use in Britain, the European Union and other countries.Approval of the Novavax
vaccine would be most welcome in Europe as it struggles with meagre vaccine supply after Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca Plc delivered fewer
doses than hoped.Executives on the call said the company was discussing with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) whether the UK and
South Africa data was enough to apply for US emergency use authorisation.The UK study took place as the more highly transmissible UK variant
The preliminary analysis suggests the vaccine was 85.6 per cent effective against this mutation, the US company announced in its news
It did not provide detailed data.In the UK trial, the effectiveness of the vaccine was close to that of the two authorised vaccines from
Pfizer Inc with BioNTech SE and Moderna Inc, whose two-dose regimens were both around 95 per cent effective at preventing Covid-19 in
The vaccine basically works well in the predominant strain circulating in the UK, which means it's likely to be equally effective in the
spoiled because we've seen the Moderna and Pfizer numbers
initially said it would approve a vaccine that was at least 50 per cent effective.The South African variant has been shown to evade antibody
protection in lab studies by Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech.Novavax said it started making new versions of its vaccine to protect against
emerging virus variants in early January and expects to select ideal candidates for a booster in the coming days
The company said it plans to initiate clinical testing of these new vaccines in the second quarter of this year.A 30,000-person trial in the
United States and Mexico that began in December also is underway
The company has received $1.6 billion from the US government in funding for the vaccine trial and for 100 million doses.It also has received
at least $388 million in backing from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI), a Norway-based group backed by 14
governments, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Britain's Wellcome Trust.Authorised vaccines so far have been based on newer
technology platforms, such as the messenger RNA technology used by Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech, or inactivated cold virus platforms used by
Oxford University/AstraZeneca and CanSino Biologics.Novavax's is a more conventional protein-based vaccine, an approach similar to that used
by Sanofi to make its Flublok seasonal flu vaccine
The Novavax vaccine works with the company's proprietary Matrix-M adjuvant used to boost its efficacy.
