Novavax stock surges after striking EU COVID-19 vaccine deal

Novavax (NSDQ:NVAX) saw its stock jump more than 20% in afternoon trading after the European Commission agreed to purchase up to 200 million doses of its vaccine. 

The Gaithersburg, Md.–based vaccine maker announced in March that its NVX-CoV2373 vaccine was 96.4% effective against the original SARS-CoV-2 strain in a U.K. trial. The efficacy in a later trial conducted in the U.S. and Mexico was 90.4%, according to a June NIH press release. 

But the company had been slow to get its vaccine onto the market. In the U.S., the company plans on filing for emergency use authorization in late September. 

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Novax could have one of the most-effective COVID-19 vaccines

Novavax (Gaithersburg, Md.) may not be the best-known vaccine developer, but its COVID-19 vaccine offers performance in line with those from Moderna and Pfizer.

Its vaccine was 96.4% effective at preventing COVID-19 caused by the original strain of the virus in a Phase 3 study. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines offered efficacy in the mid-90% range in similar studies.

But the efficacy of the Novavax NVX–CoV23 vaccine dipped to 86.3% when it came to protecting against the U.K. variant (B.1.1.7).

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Drug companies agree not to release COVID-19 vaccine until it’s ready

[Photo by Fusion Medical Animation on Unsplash]

Executives from nine different drug companies today announced a pledge to ensure safety with a potential COVID-19 vaccine.

The CEOs of AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN), BioNTech (NSDQ:BNTX), GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Merck (NYSE:MRK), Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA), Novavax (NSDQ:NVAX), Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and Sanofi (NYSE:SNY), all of whom are developing vaccine candidates, all signed the pledge, which vows to “uphold the integrity of the scientific process” as they pursue regulatory approvals of the first vaccines for the novel coronavirus.

“FDA has established clear guidance for the development of COVID-19 vaccines and clear criteria for their potential authorization or approval in the US,” the pledge states. “FDA’s guidance and criteria are based on the scientific and medical principles necessary to clearly dem…

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U.S. paying Novavax $1.6b to ramp up COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing

[Image from Unsplash]

The U.S. Health and Human Services Dept. and Defense Dept. announced a joint agreement with Novavax  (NSDQ:NVAX) worth $1.6 billion to scale the manufacturing of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

Gaithersburg, Md.-based Novavax’s commercial-scale manufacturing is expected to produce 100 million doses of the investigational vaccine that would become available for use in clinical trials or, should the FDA grant emergency use authorization (EUA) or approval, the government would be able to distribute the doses as part of a COVID-19 vaccine campaign, according to a news release.

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