A vial labelled “Novavax V COVID-19 Vaccine” is seen on this illustration taken January 16, 2022.
Dado Ruvic | Reuters
The Meals and Drug Administration licensed Novavax‘s up to date protein-based Covid vaccine for emergency use in individuals ages 12 and up on Friday, paving the way in which for the shot to compete with Pfizer and Moderna‘s jabs this fall and winter.
Novavax’s vaccine targets the extremely contagious omicron subvariant JN.1, which started circulating extensively within the U.S. earlier this yr. JN.1 solely accounted for 0.2% of circumstances circulating nationwide as of this week, in keeping with the most recent Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention information.
Novavax manufactures protein-based vaccines, which can’t be shortly up to date to focus on one other pressure of the virus.
Regardless of that, the biotech firm has famous that its shot supplies safety towards descendants of JN.1 which are at present dominant within the U.S., together with KP.2.3, KP.3, KP.3.1.1 and LB.1.
“Our up to date vaccine targets JN.1, the ‘father or mother pressure’ of at present circulating variants, and has proven sturdy cross-reactivity towards JN.1 lineage viruses,” Novavax CEO John Jacobs mentioned in a press release.
Novavax mentioned it expects its shot to be “broadly obtainable” in hundreds of places throughout the U.S., together with retail and impartial pharmacies and regional grocers.
Shares of Novavax rose greater than 8% on Friday following the announcement.
The FDA’s choice comes solely every week after it authorized a brand new spherical of messenger RNA photographs from Pfizer and Moderna, which each goal one other offshoot of JN.1 known as KP.2. Final yr, the company licensed Novavax’s shot almost a month after clearing vaccines from its rivals, placing the corporate at a drawback.
Public well being officers see Novavax’s vaccine as a useful different for individuals who do not wish to take mRNA photographs from Pfizer and Moderna, which use a more recent vaccine methodology to show cells how you can make proteins that set off an immune response towards Covid. Novavax’s shot, in the meantime, fends off the virus with protein-based expertise, a decades-old methodology utilized in routine vaccinations towards hepatitis B and shingles.
It is unclear how many individuals will get a brand new Covid shot this fall and winter.
Solely round 22.5% of U.S. adults acquired the most recent spherical of photographs that got here out final fall, in keeping with CDC information via early Might.