Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate 96.4% Effective In U.K. Trial, Company Says

GAITHERSBURG, Md. (WJZ) -- Novavax announced Thursday its vaccine candidate proved to be 96.4% effective against mild, moderate and severe cases of COVID-19 in a Phase 3 trial in the United Kingdom.

The Gaithersburg-based biotech company also announced the complete analysis of its Phase 2b trial taking place in South Africa, with efficacy of 55.4% among the HIV- negative trial participants in a region where the vast majority of strains are B1.351 escape variants.

Across both trials, NVX-CoV2373 demonstrated 100% protection against severe disease, including all hospitalization and death, Novavax said.

Stanley Erck, President and CEO of Novavax, issued the following statement in a news release:

"We are very encouraged by the data showing that NVX-CoV2373 not only provided complete protection against the most severe forms of disease, but also dramatically reduced mild and moderate disease across both trials. Importantly, both studies confirmed efficacy against the variant strains. Today marks one year since the WHO officially declared the COVID-19 pandemic, and with this data in hand, we are even more motivated to advance our vaccine as a potential weapon in the fight to end the suffering caused by COVID-19."

In both the U.K. and South Africa trials, these analyses showed that the vaccine is well-tolerated, with low levels of severe, serious (SAEs) and medically attended adverse events at day 35, balanced between vaccine and placebo groups, Novavax added.

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