Novavax alternative?
Why billions of people hope for the Corona drug Corbevax
Created: 01/17/2022, 12:46 p.m
By: Christina Denk
Corbevax seems to be the big hope among the new vaccines against the coronavirus.
But what makes it the “vaccine of the world”?
Houston - Manufacturers call it the "Covid-19 vaccine of the world".
We are talking about the new vaccine Corbevax.
According to the developers, the vaccine developed in Texas has the potential to vaccinate the world population.
It was designed for "global health," according to the manufacturer.
India already granted emergency use authorization to the vaccine in December 2021.
But what can the vaccine really do and what makes it special?
Corbevax: How does the new vaccine work?
Corbevax was developed by researchers at Texas Children's Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.
Unlike the Biontech and Moderna vaccines, it is not a vaccine based on mRNA techniques.
Instead, it is more similar in structure to the Novavax vaccine, which is also new.
Put simply, the so-called recombinant protein vaccine uses part of the spike protein of the Covid pathogen as an antigen.
This replicated part helps the body develop a defense against the virus when vaccinated.
But what differentiates the vaccine from Novavax, for example?
Corbevax: A vaccine without patent protection - manufacturers hope to benefit poor countries
As the first corona vaccine, Cordevax is not patented. The developers deliberately refrained from patenting it. This reduces the cost of the vaccine. In a guest article in
Scientific American
magazine, developers Drs. Maria Elena Bottazzi and Peter Hotez write that the vaccine is particularly suitable for use in resource-poor countries.
The vaccine is "safe, effective and can be produced locally in very large quantities," according to the researchers.
This is possible because the manufacturing techniques are already known.
They would be similar to the hepatitis B vaccine used in many of the countries.
"Corbevax is easy to store and not expensive," the developers also write.
A simple refrigeration is enough for storage.
"We hope that the vaccine will be used in many low- and middle-income countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, where vaccine availability has generally been abysmal."
Licenses have already been granted to companies in Indonesia, Bangladesh and Botswana.
Corbevax: The developers want to produce more than a billion vaccine doses soon
The developers have big goals with their vaccine. The Indian government has already bought 300 million cans. In addition, BioE, the company licensed to manufacture in India, plans to produce 100 million cans or even more per month starting in February. 150 million doses would already have been produced and ready for delivery. Since not all cans produced in India are used there, BioE plans to ship one billion cans to other countries. Big goals. "This means that Corbevax will soon vaccinate more people than has been made possible by donations from the US or any other G-7 country so far," the developers said. Internationally, the alliance called Gavi primarily supplies poorer countries that have no money to order the vaccines themselves. On January 15, she sent the one billionth dose of vaccine, according to the dpa.
Various vaccines are already being used in India.
The new vaccine Corbevax is now also being manufactured there.
© Hindustan Times/Imago
Corbevax: How effective is the new vaccine?
Corbevax has been tested in two phase III clinical trials involving more than 3,000 subjects.
As the
Pharmazeutische Zeitung
notes, however, this is a rather small number of test subjects.
For example, Biontech used 10,000 subjects for the phase III booster vaccine study, the company said.
At Novovax, more than 29,000 people received at least one vaccine dose in the test.
For Corbevax, the developers indicate good tolerability after the third phase.
The vaccine was probably tested in comparison to the vaccine Covishield.
This is approved in India, among other places, and corresponds to the vector-based vaccine from AstraZeneca, which is approved in the EU.
Corbevax: The results of the test phases compared to Covishield
In comparison, Corbevax showed a better immune response based on antibody formation. The reaction to the original strain and the delta variant was examined. The researchers derived an effectiveness for the prevention of symptomatic infections of over 90 percent. An effectiveness of over 80 percent is stated against Delta. According to the information, the titer fell by only 30 percent in the period of six months until the second vaccination. In addition, no serious adverse events occurred with any of the vaccinations. However, the number of reported adverse events was 50 percent lower with vaccination with Corbevax than with Covishield.
Compared to AstraZeneca, higher antibody formation was measured.
In addition, the effect lasted longer.
The investigations again relate to beta and delta.
Data on the Omicron variant is not yet available.
Meanwhile, the Novavax vaccine is the novelty in the EU.
Karl Lauterbach named a start date for vaccination.
(chd)
