Novavax preparing to request US authorization on new COVID-19 vaccine

A new COVID-19 vaccine by Novavax, a small U.S. drug company that has never before brought a product to market, is preparing to file a request for U.S. authorization to become a fourth vaccine to be used in the country.

In March, the company’s CEO, Stanley Erck, told CNBC that he was hopeful the vaccine would get cleared by the Food and Drug Administration in May.

The company received $1.6 billion from the U.S. to develop and manufacture its vaccine, although it took much longer than its competitors to get through its trials.

The president of research and development for the company, Gregory Glenn, told Politico that Novavax’s work over the last year has created one of the largest worldwide vaccine production networks but some concerns remain with the potential new vaccine.

A United Kingdom trial found that Novavax was just as effective as Moderna and Pfizer, but effectiveness fell dramatically against the South African variant of the virus.

A senior U.S. administration official told Politico that they are unsure how quickly the company can fulfill its 100 million doses it promised the U.S. this year.

Novavax would join Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson in being the only coronavirus vaccines authorized for use in the U.S.

Novavax is also expected to help provide vaccines to poorer countries that have been struggling to receive doses, Mesfin Teklu Tessema, who works for COVAX, a program aimed at providing vaccines to poorer countries, told Politico.