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Novavax Announces Positive Data from Three Complementary Studies of COVID-19 Beta (B.1.351) Variant Strain Vaccine
- Recombinant spike protein antigen (rS-B.1.351) based on the Beta (B.1.351) virus lineage highly immunogenic in mice and produced neutralizing antibodies -
About this update from Novavax, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"- Recombinant spike protein antigen (rS-B.1.351) based on the Beta (B.1.351) virus lineage highly immunogenic in mice and produced neutralizing antibodies\n - Primates boosted with rS-B.1.351 induced strong neutralizing immune response to original SARS-CoV-2, Alpha (B.1.1.7) and Beta (B.1.351) variant strains\n - Humans immunized with NVX-CoV2373 demonstrated robust antibody responses to original SARS-CoV-2, as well as Alpha (B.1.1.7) and Beta (B.1.351) variant strains\n - Data available ahead of publication via preprint server, bioRxiv\n\n\nGAITHERSBURG, Md., June 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX), a biotechnology company developing next-generation vaccines for serious infectious diseases, today announced preclinical and clinical data on the company's recombinant protein COVID-19 vaccine candidate, NVX-CoV2373, directed against the SARS-CoV-2 Beta (B.1.351) variant, which was originally identified in South Africa. The data show that the vaccine demonstrated strong immunogenicity and protection against both the Alpha (B.1.1.7) variant, which was originally identified in the United Kingdom, and the Beta (B.1.351) variant as well as the original SARS-CoV-2 in animal and human studies. A preprint of the manuscript, 'Immunogenicity and In vivo protection of a variant nanoparticle vaccine that confers broad protection against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants,' is available at bioRxiv.org and has been submitted for peer review.\n\"While current vaccines are effective against selected SARS-CoV-2 variant strains, newly emerging variants are also being identified that have the ability to overcome vaccine induced immunity,\" said Matthew Frieman, PhD, Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, who collaborated on these studies. \"This work demonstrates that variant vaccines that protect against these newly emerging variants have the potential to be highly effective and may produce broader protection against variants we know of and those that will arise in the future. Clinical trials will provide further evidence on the effectiveness of variant vaccines.\" \nThe studies compared the Beta (B.1.351)-directed vaccine to Novavax' prototype vaccine candidate as standalone, in combination, and as heterologous prime boost vaccine. The findings show a broad array of cellular...