Filenews 12 March 2021
The covid-19 vaccine manufactured by Novavax pharmaceuticals is 96% effective in preventing infections from the original strain of the new coronavirus in an end-stage clinical trial conducted in the UK, the company announced today, taking a step closer to regulatory approval of the vaccine.
The vaccine is also almost 86% effective in protecting against the most contagious variant of the virus first detected in the UK and is now predominant in the country.
The vaccine's effectiveness reaches just about 55% in a separate, smaller-scale clinical trial in South Africa, where volunteers were mainly exposed to another newer, more contagious variant of the new coronavirus that is widely circulating there and spreading around the world.
In both trials, the vaccine was 100% effective in preventing serious diseases and deaths.
The results from the final analysis of the British clinical trial were largely in line with the provisional data released in January, which also showed that the Novavax vaccine was 96% effective against the original strain of the new coronavirus and about 86% effective against the British variant.
The company expects to use the data to apply for a license in several countries. It is unclear when it will seek U.S. approval or whether regulators will require the company to complete an ongoing clinical trial in the U.S.
Source: RES
