Biotech company Novavax said that its COVID-19 vaccine is 90.4% effective in a late-stage trial of nearly 30,000 people in the U.S. and Mexico, possibly offering the United States another weapon against the deadly virus. Additionally, it said the two-dose vaccine was found to be 100% effective in preventing moderate and severe disease and 93% effective against some variants. 

Today, Novavax is one step closer to addressing the critical and persistent global public health need for additional COVID-19 vaccines. These clinical results reinforce that NVX-CoV2373 is extremely effective and offers complete protection against both moderate and severe COVID-19 infection, – said Stanley C. Erck, President and Chief Executive Officer, Novavax.  – Novavax continues to work with a sense of urgency to complete our regulatory submissions and deliver this vaccine, built on a well understood and proven platform, to a world that is still in great need of vaccines.

The company intends to file for regulatory authorizations in the third quarter, upon completion of the final phases of process qualification and assay validation needed to meet chemistry, manufacturing and controls (CMC) requirements. Upon regulatory approvals, Novavax remains on track to reach manufacturing capacity of 100 million doses per month by the end of the third quarter and 150 million doses per month by the end of the fourth quarter of 2021.

PREVENT-19 confirms that NVX-CoV2373 offers a reassuring tolerability and safety profile, – said Gregory M. Glenn, M.D., President of Research and Development, Novavax. – These data show consistent, high levels of efficacy and reaffirm the ability of the vaccine to prevent COVID-19 amid ongoing genetic evolution of the virus. Our vaccine will be a critical part of the solution to COVID-19 and we are grateful to the study participants and trial staff who made this study possible, as well as our supporters, including the U.S. Government.