It is the fifth vaccine to be authorized on the European market. Called Nuvaxovid, the vaccine against Covid-19 developed by the pharmaceutical company Novavax was authorized on Monday by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) at the end of an extraordinary meeting dedicated to the examination of its request for authorization, filed last November. Highly anticipated in Europe and the rest of the world, Novavax's vaccine already benefited from a contract with the European Commission for the purchase of 200 million doses once its validation was recorded by the EMA. After many delays, it's finally done. It will be studied by the French authorities in the coming weeks.
The European Commission (@EU_Commission) has granted Novavax conditional marketing authorization for Nuvaxovid ™ COVID-19 Vaccine (recombinant, adjuvanted) for active immunization to prevent # COVID19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 in individuals 18+.
Learn more: https://t.co/mvWKILEi30 pic.twitter.com/vRvzkMHqpR
- Novavax (@Novavax) December 20, 2021
What technology does Nuvaxovid use?
Unlike the vaccines developed by Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna, which make use of messenger RNA technology, Novavax's vaccine is a so-called “subunit” vaccine, made from proteins that trigger an immune response, without viruses. .
A technology already proven on vaccines used for many years, like the vaccine against hepatitis B, or that against whooping cough.
Read also Covid-19 vaccine: what exactly is messenger RNA?
Concretely, "this vaccine produces a Spike protein similar to that produced by Sars Cov2, and distributes it using an adjuvant made up of a mixture of lipids which will stimulate the protein in the form of small beads" , explains Stéphane Paul, immunologist at the CHU de Saint-Etienne and member of the scientific committee for vaccines against Covid-19.
"The advantage of such a technology is that it has been proven for a long time, and that it can therefore arouse less mistrust than messenger RNA vaccines", further indicates the immunologist.
Why was he so expected?
If scientists place so much hope in the Novavax vaccine, it is above all because the first efficacy data communicated by the laboratory are very encouraging. Last June, the company presented clinical trial results that showed 90.4% efficacy against the disease, and 100% against severe to moderate cases.
"From the data that we were able to observe within the vaccine committee, Nuvaxovid undoubtedly presents one of the best results ever seen, whether in terms of efficacy or immunogenicity", supports Stéphane Paul.
“In addition to being effective, it has very interesting properties in terms of neutralizing antibodies and much greater than what has been observed on the side of Pfizer / BioNTech or Moderna,” he explains.
A characteristic "particularly interesting in the face of a variant such as Omicron", against which the level of antibodies neutralizing and determining in the infection.
What could it be used for?
In France, Nuvaxovid may have several advantages. First, its good results in terms of immunogenicity can make it possible to "target elderly or immunocompromised populations", whether in the context of a complete vaccination or a vaccination booster, notes Stéphane Paul. Especially since "on paper, there is no contraindication to a booster with a subunit vaccine after having been vaccinated using RNA technology", indicates the immunologist.
Its technology being "more traditional" and causing less distrust, the Novavax vaccine could also be used to convince the 5 million adults eligible for vaccination who still refuse to receive their first doses.
"I don't know if it will have a real impact, but it is an alternative and a proposal that can be made, especially in the West Indies, where vaccination is still a problem," he analyzes.
Read also "No one is safe until everyone is safe": will the planet one day be vaccinated?
Finally, the vaccine's storage temperature, located between 2 and 8 ° C, allows it to be stored more easily than its messenger RNA counterparts.
“This is one of the major advantages of Nuvaxovid.
This can allow it to be deployed in many places where access to RNA vaccines was still complex, such as in some African countries for example, ”illustrates Stéphane Paul.
"Unlike large groups such as Pfizer and BioNTech, Novavax faces yield difficulties, which also explains why it is only authorized now", however, points out the immunologist.
As effective as Nuvaxovid is, the 200 million doses of the vaccine ordered by the European Commission will therefore not arrive overnight, nor solve the problem of access to the vaccine in the world immediately.
