The delta variant of the coronavirus is spreading, unstoppable it seems.
But a new vaccine could stop the advance, a study shows.
Gaithersburg - Biotech company Novavax has tested its recombinant corona vaccine NVX-Co2373 as a booster.
The result is encouraging.
Preliminary data shows that the booster dose given six months after an initial two-dose treatment resulted in an approximately four-fold increase in antibody levels against the wild-type coronavirus.
The refreshment with NVX-CoV2373 also reached very high concentrations of functional antibodies against mutations such as the alpha, beta and delta variants.
In the delta variant, a six-fold increase in cross-reactive functional antibodies can be observed compared to the first vaccination series.
The tolerance also seems to be good.
As with the first and second vaccinations, the side effects of the booster vaccination were mostly “mild” and “temporary”, according to Novavax.
Corona vaccine gives hope in the fight against Delta variant: comprehensive protection against diseases
These results come from an ongoing Phase II study in the US and Australia. Selected participants received a booster dose 189 days after the initial two-dose regimen to assess the functional immune response.
"The convincing results of this study reinforce our conviction that a booster dose of NVX-CoV2373 offers comprehensive protection against diseases, including known and emerging variants," said Dr. Gregory M. Glenn, President of Research and Development at Novavax.
NVX-CoV2373 has already proven its effectiveness in two-dose treatment in pivotal phase III studies.
Accordingly, the vaccine is certified to have an overall effectiveness of around 90 percent.
An accelerated test procedure has been running in the EU since February, which is intended to contribute to faster approval by the responsible authority EMA.
If the Novavax vaccine is given the green light, it would also be a win for developing countries.
Because one advantage of NVX-CoV2373 is that it can be stored at temperatures of two to eight degrees.
Corona vaccine gives hope in the fight against Delta variant: the immune system can immediately produce antibodies
NVX-CoV2373 belongs to the protein-based vaccines.
This already contains the spike protein as a synthetic replica.
In order to strengthen the immune response and stimulate high levels of neutralizing antibodies, a potentiator is added.
The advantage of the protein-based vaccine is that the immune system can begin to produce antibodies against the spike protein of the coronavirus almost immediately after the vaccination.
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