Novavax begins phase three Covid-19 vaccine trials

American pharmaceutical firm Novavax began phase three trials of its NVX-CoV22373 Covid-19 vaccine in the United Kingdom, in partnership with the British government, the British Department of Health and Social Care, and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The testing task force will immunize over 10,000 people aged between 18 and 84 — with or without pre-existing conditions — in the following six weeks. 

This part of the research intends to have at least 25 percent of participants aged 65 and over, as well as to prioritize the groups most affected by the disease, the so-called risk group, but also social minorities, including racial and ethnic groups. Half of the patients attending the study will receive two intramuscular injections of the vaccine, which will be administered 21 days apart, while the other half will be submitted to a placebo.

According to the chairman of Novavax’s Research and Development Department, Gregory M. Glenn, the Covid-19 transmission in the UK is considered to be at a “high and continuous” level. Phase 3 of the vaccine’s clinical trial will provide “a short-term view” of the medicine’s effectiveness. Novavax is one of the world’s top companies in the so-called ‘2020 vaccine race,’ which led the firm to expand the vaccine’s production capacity to 2 billion doses annually. 

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