Novavax kicks off late-stage vaccine trial
Novavax has begun a large late-stage study of its COVID-19 vaccine trial in the United States, the drug developer said on Monday, after delaying the trial twice due to issues in scaling up the manufacturing process.
It will enroll up to 30,000 volunteers across about 115 sites in the United States and Mexico, with two-thirds of them receiving the shot 21 days apart and the rest getting placebo.
Novavax lags behind other drugmakers in the global race for COVID-19 vaccine, with shots from Pfizer and Moderna authorized for emergency use in the United States. Johnson and Johnson and AstraZeneca also have phase three trials already under way in the u.s.
Novavax - which is getting funding of up to $1.6 billion from Operation Warp Speed - is preparing to deliver 100 million doses to the United States early next year - if the vaccine is proven to be effective and safe in the trial.
