Is Novavax the Next COVID-19 Vaccine on the Block? How It Works & Why It’s Important

The Observer ^ | 04/22/2021 | Sissi Cao

[SeekAndFind]

The global COVID-19 vaccine campaign is getting increasingly complicated. While the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines are rolling out in full speed in the U.S., public health experts have agreed that it will likely take a less expensive and easier to transport vaccine to get the rest of the world inoculated. Just a few weeks ago, hopes were high on shots made by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. But now both are facing regulatory scrutiny after a small number of early vaccine recipients developed a dangerous blood clotting condition, leaving the world anxiously waiting for the next working vaccine on the block.

The most promising candidate in the market right now is a new type of COVID-19 vaccine developed by Maryland-based biotech company Novavax.

Like Moderna and Pfizer, Novavax was among the first pharma companies to develop a COVID-19 vaccine even before the virus was declared a global pandemic. The firm announced its vaccine effort in January 2020, launched global phase 1 clinical trials in May, and quickly moved into a phase 2 trial in South Africa in August and a phase 3 trial in the U.K. in September. A large-scale phase 3 trial in the U.S. was launched in December.

Last month, Novavax reported impressive results from the U.K. and South Africa trials. Its vaccine was found to be 96 percent effective against the original coronavirus, 86 percent against the B.117 variant prevalent in the U.K. and 49 percent against the dangerous B.1.351 variant, which was first detected in South Africa. Alarmed by the reduced efficacy rates on variants, the company is developing a new vaccine specifically tailored to the South African strain.

Novavax is also exploring the potential for combining NVX-Cov2373 with its flu vaccine candidate NanoFlu. “A COVID-19/flu combo vaccine could be a commercial winner if annual COVID-19 vaccinations are needed as many anticipate will be the case,” wrote Motley Fool analyst Keith Speights, who covers health tech and pharma stocks.

Novavax’s vaccine, officially known as NVX-CoV2373, is protein-based. It uses a lab-made version of the spike protein of the original coronavirus (which won’t get you sick) to train the immune system to produce antibodies to block the harmful virus from entering cells when exposed. Like many other COVID-19 vaccines, it requires two shots injected about three weeks apart.

A major advantage is that Novavax’s vaccine can stay stable for up to three months in at normal refrigerator temperature, making it easier and cheaper to transport and store than mRNA-based shots.

Novavax has an agreement with the U.S. government to supply 100 million doses of NVX-CoV2373 once it’s authorized for emergency use. The U.S. trial is expected to report results this quarter, and an FDA EUA application will follow.

[caww]

Read an article even they’re having issues though I can’t recall what.. Just I was disappointed.

[GnuThere]

Novavax wins for best name so far.

[Republican Wildcat]

Novavax’s vaccine, officially known as NVX-CoV2373, is protein-based. It uses a lab-made version of the spike protein of the original coronavirus (which won’t get you sick) to train the immune system to produce antibodies to block the harmful virus from entering cells when exposed. Like many other COVID-19 vaccines, it requires two shots injected about three weeks apart.

So this one simply injects the spike proteins into you for the immune system to find vs. the others who have the cells make the spike proteins. Assuming this is accurate.

[steve86]

News to me, other than the expected reduced efficacy against variants.

https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/04/01/novavaxs-vaccine-data-keeps-getting-better/

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4408574-12-reasons-novavax-beats-pfizer-for-titles-of-best-covid-vaccine-and-best-covid-vaccine-stock

(Investment oriented)

[steve86]

And no involvement of human fetal cell lines at any stage of development. Did I remember to say that this vaccine does not use baby cells?

[SeekAndFind]

Well, here’s what we’ve learned so far based on their (NovaVax ) tests on people:

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4408574-12-reasons-novavax-beats-pfizer-for-titles-of-best-covid-vaccine-and-best-covid-vaccine-stock

* With efficacy of ~96%, the Novavax vaccine has the highest efficacy against the original Covid-19 strain. This is a little higher than Pfizer’s phase 3 trial level of 95% and Moderna’s efficacy of ~94%, and far higher than the 72% and 62% efficacy levels of the J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines. It’s also much higher than Pfizer’s efficacy level in 2 out of the 3 real world studies of the Pfizer vaccine. A larger study recently released by the UK government found the vaccine had only 79% to 84% efficacy.

* Another study in Israel found it had 94% efficacy for symptomatic Covid infections and 92% efficacy for severe illness due to the virus. A third study by the Mayo Clinic in the US came in around the middle of the other two studies: it found that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines had 88.7% efficacy for people who received two doses. The average of those 3 Pfizer studies was 88%.

Initial efficacy levels of the Chinese vaccines have been much lower with CanSino Biologics at 65%, Sinopharm at 79% and Sinovac at 50%. Gamelaya, the Russian-state-run vaccine company, claimed that its Sputnik vaccine had 91% efficacy, but many experts question the accuracy and legitimacy of the trial. It appeared the Russian government was more interested in publicity and political propaganda than scientific norms such as waiting for phase 3 results before approving a vaccine.

* The Novavax Covid vaccine has the highest efficacy against the original Covid-19 strain and the South Africa variant. It is also the only vaccine with proven efficacy against 3 variants.

* It is the only major Covid vaccine that can easily be made into a multivalent vaccine that contains multiple variants in a single dose.

* Recently an article in BioSpace said: “Although largely off the radar for the general public ... analyst Josh Schimmer with Evercore ISI, believes that the Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) vaccine is the “vaccine to beat,” with it showing “strong potency and unique tolerability.” Analysts at B. Riley and JP Morgan also recently said the Novavax vaccine is best-in-class.

* Because the Novavax vaccine has the highest levels of antibodies by far, it is probably going to have the strongest durability. Durability means how long protection lasts for. In other words, what the efficacy is after 6 months, 8 months, 10 months and 12 months.

[caww]

I should have paid better attention as with J&J I’ve been looking at alternatives to what’s being pushed and Novavax was one of those....I’ll continue to wait til they all have their kinks worked out....until so I pray and take vitamins.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: And no involvement of human fetal cell lines at any stage of development. Did I remember to say that this vaccine does not use baby cells?

That's another plus - ETHICS.

The Novavax vaccine has far higher levels of antibodies than other vaccines, roughly 600% higher than the next best vaccines by Moderna and Pfizer. So, it will probably have greater durability. Here is a chart showing antibody levels.

It's essential to be aware that it is not done to scale: the first 100 is given as much space as the next 900; and the first 1,000 is given as much space as the next 9,000. In the light blue bars, Novavax's 3,906 is 597% higher than Moderna's 654 and 1,082% higher than Pfizer's 361. In the red bars, Novavax's 654 is 622% higher than Moderna's 158, and 1045% higher than Pfizer's 94:

[ConservativeMind]

That’s a reasonable way to put it

It is made using a similar process to Flublok.

https://sanofiflu.com/flublok-quadrivalent-influenza-vaccine.html

It’s the flu shot we’ve sought out the past three years. It works.

[caww]

These two pints alone sure sound far better than the others...

.....* The Novavax Covid vaccine has the highest efficacy against the original Covid-19 strain and the South Africa variant. It is also the only vaccine with proven efficacy against 3 variants.

* It is the only major Covid vaccine that can easily be made into a multivalent vaccine that contains multiple variants “””in a single dose”””.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: Novavax wins for best name so far.

OK, that's STYLE. But here's the substance:

The Novavax vaccine easily beats Pfizer on tolerability and safety. For example, the percentage of people with local pain from the first dose was 91% for Pfizer (and 90% for Moderna) while only 40% for Novavax. The second dose pain was 82% for Pfizer, 100% for Moderna and 59% for Novavax. Fever from the 2nd dose was 18% with Pfizer, 40% with Moderna and 0% with Novavax.

Fatigue from the 2nd dose was 78% with Pfizer, 80% with Moderna and only 41% with Novavax. Chills from the 2nd dose were 59% with Pfizer, 80% with Moderna and 0% with Novavax. Pfizer beat Novavax in the area of tenderness. But generally, fatigue, chills and fever are considered the worse side effects, and the most likely to sideline a person from doing normal activities.

AstraZeneca on the whole fared somewhat better than Pfizer and Moderna, but not as good as Novavax. You can see multiple charts for all side effects in this report

[SeekAndFind]

As Dr. Dan Barouch, a virologist at Beth Israel Medical Center in Boston, said, “The pandemic is a lot more complicated now than it was a couple months ago.” As this chart shows, there are three factors that determine how well a vaccine will stay ahead of the mutating variants:

[xp38]

Yeah when I was reading about the various vaccines that stood out for me. If I eventually get a vaccine this is the one I would get if I had a choice.

[caww]

Do they know yet when it will be distributed?....I figure if we end up required taking a jab it needs to be the best out of the bunch.....

[caww]

How soon before the other lead competitors will try to knock this down like they did J&J?

[SeekAndFind]

RE: Do they know yet when it will be distributed?....I figure if we end up required taking a jab it needs to be the best out of the bunch.....

Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine could be authorized as early as May, its CEO said.

[caww]

Ok so I’ll probably wait then until June and see how it goes.

[The Mayor]

mark

[The Fop]

Ahhh...the nocturnal FRvax geeks are out in full force.

Hint: If COVID hasn’t killed you yet, go to sleep and stop worrying. You’re gonna be fine. I promise.