Matt Hancock hails Novavax jab’s 86.3% effectiveness against Kent Covid strain

Matt Hancock last night hailed the Novavax vaccination’s 86.3 per cent effectiveness against the Kent strain of Covid-19.

The Health Secretary confirmed the UK has 60 million doses of the jab, developed in Gaithersburg, Maryland, on order ahead of its approval by the medicines regulator.

He said: ‘Really encouraging results from Novavax tonight on its efficacy against variants. 

‘We’ve ordered 60 million doses and if approved by the medicines regulator it will be another boost to the UK’s vaccination rollout as we work to overcome this virus.’

New data released on Thursday confirmed the Novavax vaccine is safe and 96 per cent effective at preventing infection against the original strain of Covid-19.

The firm released results from two clinical trials yesterday, one held in the UK and another in South Africa.       

Both countries have seen highly infectious variants of coronavirus emerge in recent months, which have quickly spread around the world.

Across both trials, the vaccine candidate, called NVX-CoV2373, demonstrated 100 per cent protection against severe disease, including all hospitalisation and death.

In the Phase III UK trial, the vaccine was found to be 96.4 per cent effective against mild, moderate and severe disease caused by the original coronavirus strain.

It was also 86.3 per cent effective against the Kent strain, known as B.1.1.7.

However, in South Africa, the Novavax jab was found to only be 55.3 per cent effective against the native variant.      

In a late-stage UK study, Novavax’s coronavirus vaccine was shown to be 96% effective against the original COVID-19 strain and 100% effective at preventing severe disease. Pictured: Dr Stephaun Wallace (left) receives his second injection from Dr Tia Babu during the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine trial in Seattle, Washington, February 2021

Novavax’s vaccine uses synthesized pieces of the surface protein that the coronavirus uses to invade human cells and spurs antibody production (file image)

‘We are very encouraged by the data showing that NVX-CoV2373 not only provided complete protection against the most severe forms of disease, but also dramatically reduced mild and moderate disease across both trials,’  Stanley Erck, president and CEO of Novavax, said.

‘Importantly, both studies confirmed efficacy against the variant strains. 

‘Today marks one year since the WHO officially declared the Covid-19 pandemic, and with this data in hand, we are even more motivated to advance our vaccine as a potential weapon in the fight to end the suffering caused by Covid-19.’ 

The Novavax vaccination contains synthesised pieces of the surface protein that coronavirus uses to invade human cells.

The idea is that the protein will cause human cells to spur production of antibodies to fight the infection.

This technology is a more traditional method of administering vaccines compared to newer technology found in the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

The biotechnology company has been running trials in Britain, South Africa, the US and Mexico.

The Health Secretary confirmed the UK has 60 million doses of the US jab, developed in Gaithersburg, Maryland, on order ahead of its approval by the medicines regulator

The UK trial involved more than 15,000 participants between ages 18 and 84, including 27 per cent who were over the age of 65. 

Overall, there were 106 cases of Covid-19 in the trial, with 10 in the vaccine group and 96 in the placebo group.  

In volunteers who were 65 year old or older, there were 10 cases of coronavirus, nine of which were among those who received the placebo. 

Researchers determined the vaccine was 96.4 per cent effective against the original strain and 86.3 per cent against the Kent variant circulating in the UK.  

However, the US-based, late-stage trial did not begin until December after Novavax had issues in scaling up the vaccine’s manufacturing. 

The South Africa trial evaluated the safety and efficacy of the vaccine in 2,665 healthy adults.

In total, 51 cases of Covid-19 were identified the vaccine group and 96 in the placebo group – the vast majority of which were linked to the South African varaint.

Researchers determined this demonstrated 55.3 per cent efficacy against strains in South Africa.

The news come less than two months after Novavax released data from an interim analysis shows.

That data showed, that the vaccine was 95.6 percent effective against the original virus and 85.6 per cent effective against the B 1.1.7. variant.

At the time, the mid-stage study in South Africa found that the shot was just 49.3 per cent effective against that country’s variant.