- Novavax Inc NVAX has announced the pre-print publication of data from a Phase 2b trial in children evaluating its malaria vaccine candidate, R21, created by the University of Oxford. The three arms study recruited 450 participants.
- The vaccine includes Novavax' Matrix-M adjuvant and is licensed to Serum Institute of India (SII).
- Participants aged 5-17 months received 5 mg of R21 with either 25 mg or 50 mg of Matrix-M or a rabies vaccine as a control.
- The researchers reported a vaccine efficacy of 77% in the higher adjuvant dose group and 71% in the lower adjuvant dose group.
- The publication shows that both adjuvant dosage levels were well tolerated in young children with no reported severe reactions to the vaccine.
- Also, participants vaccinated with R21/Matrix-M showed high titers of malaria-specific anti-N-acetylneuraminic acid phosphatase (NANP) antibodies 28 days after the third vaccination, which almost doubled with the higher adjuvant dose.
- After a fourth dose, administered one year later, antibody levels were boosted to levels similar to the peak titers achieved following the primary series of vaccinations.
- Under Novavax's agreement with Serum Institute, SII has the rights to use Matrix-M in the vaccine in regions where the disease is endemic and will pay Novavax royalties.
- Additionally, Novavax will have commercial rights to sell and distribute the SII-manufactured vaccine in certain countries.
- Price Action: NVAX shares are up 0.22% at $207.75 in the premarket session on the last check Friday.
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