The fifth vaccine against Covid-19 arrives. After Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Astrazeneca and Johnson & Jonhson, the EMA, the European Medicines Agency, has given the green light to the Nuvaxovid preparation, produced by Novavax.
THE NOVAVAX VACCINE
The go-ahead for conditional marketing in the EU was decided today, Monday 20 December, by the Agency's Technical Committee for Medicines after "an in-depth evaluation". “It is a different vaccine from the others authorized so far because it is composed of the proteins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. These contain the part of the virus that changes the least and it is for this reason that there is hope that it can be effective with more than one variant”, explained in detail the president of the Mario Negri Institute, Silvio Garattini.
According to the two clinical studies conducted to date, involving over 45 people, the Novavax vaccine would be effective in preventing Covid-19 in people aged 18 and over. “The first study, conducted in Mexico and the United States, found a 90,4% reduction in the number of symptomatic cases of Covid-19 from 7 days after the second dose in people who received Nuvaxovid (14 cases out of 17.312 people ) compared to people given Nuvaxovid,” explained the US company, adding that ”The second study conducted in the UK also showed a similar reduction in the number of symptomatic cases of Covid-19 in people who received Nuvaxovid (10 cases out of 7.020 people) versus people given placebo (96 out of 7.019 people); in this study, the efficacy of the vaccine was 89,7%”.
Together, the results of the two studies therefore show an efficacy of the Nuvaxovid vaccine of about 90% against the Alpha and Beta variants. “Limited data are currently available on the efficacy of Nuvaxovid against other variants of concern, including Omicron,” continues the European Agency.
On Wall Street, after the news of the EMA's go-ahead, Novavax stock futures gain more than 7% after the +11,49% recorded in Friday's session.
THE MODERN BOOSTER
In the meantime, some important news is coming from Moderna: according to preliminary data, the third dose of the vaccine increases protection against the Omicron variant. The data, explains the company, vary in relation to the dose used. The dose currently authorized as a booster (50 micrograms, ie equal to half the dose used in the two injections of the primary cycle) increases the levels of neutralizing antibodies against the Omicron variant approximately 37-fold compared to the levels prior to its administration. With a full booster dose of 100 micrograms, antibodies increase approximately 83-fold.
