Novavax claims its experimental COVID-19 vaccine produced high levels of antibodies

American vaccine development company Novavax said on August 4 that its experimental COVID-19 vaccine produced high levels of antibodies against the novel coronavirus, according to initial data that came from a small and early-stage clinical trial. It also said that it will start an important phase third trial as soon as in September, the company also added that it is able to produce 1 billion to 2 billion doses of the vaccine incoming 2021. Talking to international media Novavax research chief Gregory Glenn told that the late-stage clinical trial could potentially bring enough data to obtain regulatory approvals as early as December.

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According to Maryland-based Novavax its vaccine candidate NVX-CoV2373 produced higher levels of the antibodies in healthy volunteers after two doses as compare to recovered COVID-19 patients. This breakthrough is seen as ray of hope by the company. The Novavax vaccine is one of the handful programs which got US funding under Operation Warp Speed, the program started by Whitehouse to accelerate access to vaccines and treatments to curb the novel coronavirus.

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Novavax’s vaccine contains synthesized pieces of the surface protein that the coronavirus uses to invade human cells and it increases the production of antibodies to fight the infection. In the time of corona havoc, people are looking at the vaccine to end coronavirus which has claimed more than 695,000 lives worldwide.

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United States government extends support

In the month of July, the United States government agreed to pay Novavax $1.6 billion to help cover costs related to testing and manufacturing the vaccine, with the aim of procuring 100 million doses by coming January 2021. The trial was started in late May and the vaccine was tested on 106 subjects aged 18 to 59, the phase one looked at the vaccine’s safety and ability to induce immune responses. The company tested 5 micrograms and 25 microgram doses of the vaccine, with and without the adjuvant. In future company would likely move forward with the lower dose.

(Image Credit-AP)

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