Novavax hopes ease of storage will give its vax edge

Novavax, the US biotechnology company, expects demand for its Covid-19 vaccine candidate even though rivals are ahead in launches across the world.The company, which transferred its vaccine technology to Serum Institute of India for distribution in India and middle-income countries, is banking on ease of storage and pricing of its jab to take on the early movers in the race.“We believe that multiple vaccines will be required to end Covid-19 in India and worldwide. The attributes of our vaccine, including the ability to store it using standard refrigeration and cold supply chain, will be helpful in many areas of the world,” a Novavax spokesperson told ET in an email. “We are committed to reasonable pricing, equitable distribution and allocation, and expansive access worldwide, which is what will be required to fully control the pandemic.”Novavax is conducting phase-3 clinical trials in the US and the UK. The UK regulator is looking at rolling review of its data.81398657The company said last month its vaccine was 91% efficacious in a clinical trial but did not show high efficacy against certain new strains.Serum Institute of India has started phase-2/3 clinical trials in India to compare the safety and immunogenicity of the product that it makes with the Novavax vaccine.The Covid-19 vaccination drive under way globally is dominated by vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca-University of Oxford, Bharat Biotech (in India), Moderna, Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology (Sputnik V), Sinopharm of China and Johnson & Johnson, the latest entrant.India requires more doses, with the government looking to expand the vaccine drive to more private centres and companies committing to pay for jabs for their staff. At least three Indian vaccine candidates are expected to be launched in the next couple of months.Novavax has signed a deal with Serum Institute to make a cumulative 1.1 billion doses of its vaccine for the World Health Organization’s COVAX facility, which is aimed at inoculating high-risk groups such as healthcare workers in low- and middle-income countries.“The doses will be manufactured and distributed globally by Novavax and the Serum Institute of India. The specifics of the agreement are still being finalised. However, the 1.1 billion doses committed should be able to reach many of COVAX’s more than 190 participating economies,” Novavax said.Serum Institute, which also manufactures the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine, has been roped in by the UK company to distribute the vaccines to parts of the regulated market where it has not managed to ship out its vaccines due to production issues.

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