A vial labelled “Novavax V COVID-19 Vaccine” is seen on this illustration taken January 16, 2022.
Dado Ruvic | Reuters
The Food and Drug Administration authorized Novavax‘s updated protein-based Covid vaccine for emergency use in people ages 12 and up on Friday, paving the way in which for the shot to compete with Pfizer and Moderna‘s jabs this fall and winter.
Novavax’s vaccine targets the highly contagious omicron subvariant JN.1, which began circulating widely within the U.S. earlier this 12 months. JN.1 only accounted for 0.2% of cases circulating nationwide as of this week, based on the most recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
Novavax manufactures protein-based vaccines, which can’t be quickly updated to focus on one other strain of the virus.
Despite that, the biotech company has noted that its shot provides protection against descendants of JN.1 which might be currently dominant within the U.S., including KP.2.3, KP.3, KP.3.1.1 and LB.1.
“Our updated vaccine targets JN.1, the ‘parent strain’ of currently circulating variants, and has shown robust cross-reactivity against JN.1 lineage viruses,” Novavax CEO John Jacobs said in a press release.
Novavax said it expects its shot to be “broadly available” in hundreds of locations across the U.S., including retail and independent pharmacies and regional grocers.
Shares of Novavax rose greater than 8% on Friday following the announcement.
The FDA’s decision comes only per week after it approved a recent round of messenger RNA shots from Pfizer and Moderna, which each goal one other offshoot of JN.1 called KP.2. Last 12 months, the agency authorized Novavax’s shot nearly a month after clearing vaccines from its rivals, putting the corporate at an obstacle.
Public health officials see Novavax’s vaccine as a beneficial alternative for individuals who don’t desire to take mRNA shots from Pfizer and Moderna, which use a more moderen vaccine method to show cells make proteins that trigger an immune response against Covid. Novavax’s shot, meanwhile, fends off the virus with protein-based technology, a decades-old method utilized in routine vaccinations against hepatitis B and shingles.
It’s unclear how many individuals will get a recent Covid shot this fall and winter.
Only around 22.5% of U.S. adults received the most recent round of shots that got here out last fall, based on CDC data through early May.
