Novavax Announces Significant Milestone In Development Of COVID-19 Vaccine
Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX) has announced a major milestone in its advances to develop a vaccine for COVID-19 barely a month since it set out to develop the vaccine.
Coronavirus Stock to Watch: Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX)
The Gaithersburg Company is evaluating the vaccine in animal models, which is a vital step towards human trials. They are currently looking for an optimal candidate safe for testing in humans, which they intend to start phase 1 trials by late spring. This is a faster timeline compared to the relatively long process of research and development common in the biotechnology world.
The company announced in January that it was in the process of developing a vaccine for COVID-19. The disease caused by a coronavirus strain has continued to spread across the globe and has raised serious health concerns. Novavax, which develops vaccines for infectious diseases, has previously developed clinical vaccines that have been crucial in the protection of coronaviruses like those that cause SARS and MERS.
Based on its past experiences, the company has managed to ramp up efforts in advancing the vaccine to target COVID-19. Novavax employed their nanoparticle tech platform in engineering various candidates. The company is expecting to use the Matrix-M adjuvant that it has previously used with its vaccines to enhance immune responses with the novel COVID-19 vaccine.
Stanley Erck, the CEO and President of Novavax, indicated that the company has had previous experiences with coronaviruses such as MERS and SARS. As a result, this enabled them to mobilize easily for COVID-19 and succeed in the important initial stages of engineering possible vaccine candidates. Erck added that since the protein has been stably expressed in the baculovirus system and the company will be focusing on identifying an optimal candidate before scaling production to produce enough vaccine for clinical trials.
However, Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX) is not the only company that is seeking to produce a vaccine for COVID-19. Most drugmakers have been working on the same with Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD), leading with its remdesivir antiviral a possible candidate.
Shares of Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX) went up by 15% on Wednesday and could be on a watchlist as Coronavirus Stock to Watch.
Source: Stock Market Press
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