In the battle against Covid-19, more than 330 million vaccines have been given out. But a new vaccine candidate is about to enter the arena. Novavax recently completed its final studies and will submit an application to the FDA and other regulatory agencies in the coming weeks.
The new candidate uses a different mechanism to elicit immune responses than existing vaccines. However, it is still successful against non-variant types of the virus.
What exactly is Novavax and what does it mean?
SEATTLE, WA - FEBRUARY 12: Swabs from patients participating in the Novavax phase 3 Covid-19 clinical vaccine trial await testing at the UW Medicine Retrovirology Lab at Harborview Medical Center on February 12, 2021, in Seattle, Washington. The Novavax vaccine requires standard refrigeration temperatures (2 to 8°C) making it easier to store and distribute than those requiring ultra-freezing temperatures. UW Medicine got its first shipment of samples for the clinical trials in January coming from clinics all over the United States and Mexico.
How Does Novavax's Vaccine Work? Using Moth Cells
Since the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, has "spike proteins" on its surface, scientists worldwide easily recognized it as a coronavirus when the sequence was published online.
Coronaviruses have huge protrusions on their spikes, says the study "Structure, Function, and Evolution of Coronavirus Spike Proteins." Hence, COVID-19 seems to have the appearance of crowns. The Latin word for "crown" is the corona.
The virus uses these knob-shaped structures to bind to human cells and infect them. The ability of a vaccine to help protect against COVID-19 depends on the immune system's ability to identify and "remember" certain spike proteins.
However, how different coronavirus vaccines accomplish this varies.
The NVX-CoV2373 COVID-19 vaccine from Novavax differs from the three other coronavirus vaccines currently available in the United States. On its website, Novavax said their vaccine uses recombinant nanoparticle technology and its adjuvant, Matrix-M, to induce an immune response and stimulate high levels of neutralizing antibodies.
The vaccine Novavax scientists found the gene for the spike protein when the coronavirus genetic sequence was released and produced a modified version of that gene.
The genes were cloned into a baculovirus that infects insects, according to the researchers. They then used the virus to infect moth cells, specifically cells from the fall armyworm insect, causing them to release the coronavirus spike protein.
Novavax's vaccine was created using these virus-like nanoparticles.
The Conversation said Novavax vaccine is administered in two doses, like the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines. It can be kept in the fridge for up to three months, unlike the Pfizer mRNA vaccine, which must be kept at extremely low temperatures.
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Novavax Vaccine Found to Have High Efficacy
In the United States and Mexico, Novavax's Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial has recruited 30,000 volunteers in over 100 places.
Novavax's vaccine has overall efficacy of 89.7% in preventing mild, moderate, and severe disease, according to a statement. This discovery was made public last month.
Novavax's UK study, which included more than 15,000 people aged 18 to 84, found that the vaccine was 96.4 percent effective against mild, moderate, and serious disease caused by the initial coronavirus strain and 86.3 percent effective against the B.1.1.7 variant first discovered in the UK.
Moderna had a 94.5 percent efficacy rate. Pfizer had a 95 percent efficacy rate, and Johnson & Johnson had a 66 percent efficacy rate in their vaccine trials.
Compared to the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, which were studied earlier in the pandemic, the Novavax and J&J vaccines were studied later in the pandemic after researchers had detected the existence of COVID-19 variants.
Trials varied among vaccines based on where they were tested, which may explain variations in efficacy.
According to the company, the vaccine efficacy in Novavax's UK trial was 83.4 percent 14 days after the first dose.
Novavax expects to see similar trial results in the United States, particularly as the B.1.1.7 variant continues to circulate.
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