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Vaccine maker Novavax has said that its shot is highly effective against COVID-19 and also protects against variants in a large, late-stage study in the US and Mexico.

The vaccine was about 90 per cent effective overall and preliminary data showed it was safe, the company said on Monday.

Novavax has said a large study shows it’s COVID-19 vaccine is 90 per cent effective.Credit:Andrew Caballero – Getty

While demand for COVID-19 shots in the US has dropped off dramatically, the need for more vaccines around the world remains critical. The Novavax vaccine, which is easy to store and transport, is expected to play an important role in boosting vaccine supplies in the developing world.

That help is still months away, however. The company says it plans to seek authorisation for the shots in the US, Europe and elsewhere, including Australia, by the end of September and be able to produce up to 100 million doses a month by then.

The Australian government has ordered 51 million doses of Novavax’s product. In May, the company outlined plans to make doses of its coronavirus vaccine in Australia after revealing it is searching for a manufacturing partner to produce its protein-based jab onshore.

The US company’s plans to explore setting up shop in Australia come one week after fellow US biotech Moderna said it was in talks with the federal government about local manufacturing opportunities.

“Many of our first doses will go to … low- and middle-income countries, and that was the goal to begin with,” Novavax chief executive Stanley Erck said.

While more than half of the US population has had at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, less than 1 per cent of people in the developing world have had one shot, Our World In Data has said.

Novavax’s study involved nearly 30,000 people aged 18 and over in the US and Mexico. Two-thirds received two doses of the vaccine, three weeks apart, and the rest got dummy shots.

There were 77 cases of COVID-19 — 14 in the group that got the vaccine and the rest were in volunteers who received dummy shots. None in the vaccine group had moderate or severe disease, compared to 14 in the placebo group.

The vaccine was similarly effective against several variants including the one first detected in the UK, which is dominant in the US, and in high-risk populations including the elderly and people with other health problems.

Side effects were mostly mild — tenderness and pain at the injection site. There were no reports of unusual blood clots or heart problems, Erck said.

Novavax reported the results in a press release and plans to publish in a medical journal, where it will be vetted by independent experts. The Maryland-based company previously released findings from smaller studies in Britain and South Africa.

COVID-19 vaccines train the body to recognise the coronavirus, especially the spike protein that coats it, and get ready to fight the virus off. The Novavax vaccine is made with lab-grown copies of that protein. That’s different from some of the other vaccines now widely used, which include genetic instructions for the body to make its own spike protein.

The Novavax vaccine can be stored in standard refrigerators, making it easier to distribute.

Novavax previously announced manufacturing delays due to supply shortages. The company now expects to reach production of 100 million doses a month by the end of September and 150 million doses a month by December.

The company has committed to supplying 110 million doses to the US over the next year and a total of 1.1 billion doses to developing countries.

In May, vaccines alliance Gavi announced it had signed an agreement to buy 350 million doses of Novavax’s vaccine, with deliveries estimated to begin in the third quarter. COVAX, the global initiative to provide vaccines to countries, is facing a critical shortage of vaccines after its biggest supplier in India suspended exports until the end of the year,

Novavax has been working on developing vaccines for more than three decades, but hasn’t brought one to market. The company’s coronavirus vaccine work is partly funded by the US government.

AP

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