The American pharmaceutical company Novavax has again postponed the application for approval of its corona vaccine in the United States. However, it will apply for approval in India, Indonesia, the Philippines and the World Health Organization for the Covax program.
According to Novavax, countries need the vaccine more than wealthy Western countries, which have already received enough doses from other pharmaceutical companies. “This is an important step to deliver millions of doses of a safe and effective vaccine to countries in need to control the pandemic,” said chief executive Stanley Erck.
Novavax uses a different technique than pharmaceuticals whose vaccine is already used. It is a so-called protein vaccine. Other vaccines contain a piece of genetic code after which the body itself produces the spike protein with which the coronavirus binds to human cells. The body then makes antibodies against that spike protein.
The Novavax vaccine actually skips a step. The vaccine contains harmless copies of the spike protein, which the body does not have to make first. Novavax vaccine is easier to store and transport than Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. This makes the drug more suitable for poor countries.
Two shots of the Novavax vaccine are also required. Studies showed that the vaccine had an effectiveness of 90 percent, but that was when the delta variant was not yet dominant. The company aims to produce 250 million doses this year.
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