Government Buys 1.5 Million More Doses of Novavax’s COVID Vaccine
Biotechnology company Novavax announced that it has made a modification to an existing contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Defense (DoD) to provide up to 1.5 million more doses of its Nuvaxovid COVID-19 vaccine (also known as “NVX-CoV2373” and “Covovax”), in addition to the 3.2 million doses of the shot sold to the government last year.
The modification stipulates that the government will increase public access to the vaccine and support the development of smaller dose vials, strain selection consistent with recommendations by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and an orderly transition for distribution to the commercial market.1
John C. Jacobs, president and CEO of Novavax, said:
This agreement acknowledges the need to offer the American people a diverse COVID-19 vaccine portfolio and underscores the importance of Novavax’ partnership with the U.S. government to ensure continuous access to a protein-based option as part of public health measures.2
Nuvaxovid has not been officially licensed by the FDA, but has been granted Emergency Use
Authorization (EUA) by the agency for distribution to individuals 12 years of age and older.3Nuvaxovid is a protein subunit COVID vaccine containing the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and an adjuvant known as Matrix-M composed of saponin extracts, phospholipids and cholesterol, which is designed to trigger a very strong immune response.4 The spike protein in this vaccine is produced in baculovirus insect cells. The Matrix M-adjuvant contains saponin extracts from the bark of the Soapbark tree that is native to Chile.5 6
U.S. Public Health Officials Hope Novavax’s Vaccine Will Appeal to Americans Worried About mRNA Shots
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted an opt-in Internet survey of 1,200 COVID–vaccinated adults to assess the reasons for receiving or not receiving Pfizer/BioNTech’s Comirnaty messenger RNA (mRNA) bivalent COVID booster shot. The results showed that 22.7 percent of respondents said that they had chosen not to get the mRNA booster due to concerns about adverse reactions. This concern was more prevalent among those who were over 60 years old.7
Guy Palmer, PhD, a professor of pathology and infectious diseases at Washington State University, said he believed that Nuvaxovid could appeal to Americans who are concerned about the safety of mRNA shots. “There’s a slight open door there for a non-mRNA vaccine like Novavax.” Dr. Palmer said.
Robert Schooley, MD, an infectious disease specialist at UC San Diego Health, noted:
Novavax essentially uses the same approach as mRNA vaccines, but they make the protein in a factory. So they’re giving you the protein itself, rather than instructions for your cells to make a protein.8
The Nuxaxovid vaccine has been shown to cause severe adverse reactions in Phase 1 part of a Phase 1/2 human clinical trials.9 Cases of myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) or pericarditis (inflammation of the membrane around the heart) were detected in Novavax clinical trials.10
If you would like to receive an e-mail notice of the most recent articles published in The Vaccine Reaction each week, click here.
Click here to view References:
No comments:
Post a Comment