US – based Novavax has announced that Phase 1 testing of its experimental vaccine against the coronavirus has yielded “positive data”. The drug is said to have generated antibodies in all participants.
According to the company, which tested the vaccine on 131 healthy adults aged 18 to 59, “it had minimal side effects and it showed a reassuring safety profile.”
In addition, it provided “robust antibody responses,” outnumbering even those seen in people who have had the disease. This data, is still preliminary, however, and is currently pending review by the scientific community.
All study subjects developed IgG antibodies after receiving a first dose, but after the second dose, 100% of the participants developed neutralizing antibody responses .
As for side effects, the company said that “the adverse reactions were generally mild.” The most common problems were a little pain and tenderness at the vaccine site, with some suffereing headache, fatigue and muscle pain.
After the second dose, a greater number of secondary events were recorded , which on average lasted less than two days, according to Novavax, which states that there were no “severe” adverse effects .
Various vaccines in their final stages
Novavax has announced that it will begin its phase 3 trials soon, possibly in late September, and hopes to produce between one and two trillion samples of the vaccine available in 2021.
Meanwhile, Moderna, Oxford and Pfizer, are already working to recruit the necessary volunteers to start the final phase of clinical trials with their vaccines. Russia also intends to approve a vaccine that the Gamalei Institute has recetly developed.
From 10 August it is planned to send the Russian vaccine to the different Russian regions, where a broader vaccination campaign will be carried out from October, despite the fact that vaccine research usually requires at least three phases, each of several months, a process that usually takes years.
The WHO reacted cautiously to the announcement that the Russian vaccine is almost ready to be inoculated into the general population, recalling that all phases of testing must be completed before a license is granted. “There are currently hundreds of vaccines in the testing process, and they must comply with the guidelines and regulations to proceed safely,” they warned.
