Coronavirus: Novavax Vaccine Yields Positive Results in Two Phase-1 Studies

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The American company Novavax announced on Tuesday, August 4th, that two studies of its vaccine against the novel coronavirus showed promising preliminary results.

One of them, part of phase 1 of the human trials, showed that 56 volunteers who were administered two doses of the vaccine produced a high level of antibodies against the virus with no serious side effects.

The second, conducted on animals, showed that the immunizing agent was able to prevent infection in monkeys.

Though little known, the Maryland-based company in the United States received US$1.6 billion (R$8 billion) from the American government as part of an agreement to access its potential vaccine.

In an interview with The New York Times, virologist John Moore of Weill Cornell Medicine, who was not involved in the study, said the Novavax results are the most impressive he has seen to date. “This is the first one I’ve looked at and said, ‘Yes, I would accept it.”

Despite the encouraging results, they represent only the initial testing phase. To assert whether or not the vaccine is safe and effective, large-scale studies, the so-called phase 3, are required.

According to Novavax, should the vaccine prove effective, the company could produce 100 million doses by early next year. The amount would be sufficient to immunize 50 million people on a two-dose basis.

Source: Veja

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