The US biotech company Novavax is now planning an application for approval in the third quarter after further positive study results with its Covid-19 vaccine. In a study with around 30,000 participants in the United States and Mexico, the vaccine showed an effectiveness of more than 93 percent against the predominant virus variants, as Novavax announced on Monday. During the study, the alpha variant B.1.1.7, which appeared for the first time in Great Britain, appeared most frequently, but study participants were also infected with the variants from Brazil, South Africa and India, said Novavax research director Gregory Glenn.
The vaccine protected study participants who were at high risk of a severe course of 91 percent and was 100 percent effective in preventing moderate and severe Covid-19 cases.
Against variants that Novavax could not identify, he was about 70 percent effective, said Glenn.
Novavax had already presented the first data from its study in Great Britain at the beginning of the year, according to which the vaccine showed an effectiveness of a good 89 percent.
However, the company had to postpone its production targets several times and struggled with shortages of materials and supplies for the manufacture of its vaccine.
The company plans to produce 100 million vaccine doses per month by the end of the third quarter and 150 million doses per month by the end of the fourth quarter.