Novavax says vaccine effective against Eris variant

Shares of Novavax jumped greater than 13% on Tuesday after the biotech company said its recent Covid vaccine generated a broad immune response against the now-dominant Eris variant and one other fast-spreading strain of the virus in small animal trials.

The updated shot is designed to focus on omicron subvariant XBB.1.5, which is slowly declining nationwide. 

However the trial results suggest that the shot should still be effective against newer Covid variants gaining a greater foothold within the U.S. That features Eris and XBB.1.16.6, each of that are also descendants of omicron. 

Novavax’s vaccine and recent shots from Pfizer and Moderna are expected to roll out within the U.S. inside weeks, pending potential approvals from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 

Each Pfizer and Moderna have also released initial trial results indicating that their shots will likely be effective against Eris, but Moderna is the one company with data on humans.

“Now we have loads of confidence in our updated Covid vaccine and are working diligently with global regulatory bodies to make sure our protein-based vaccine is out there this fall,” Filip Dubovsky, Novavax’s president of research and development, said in a release.

Eris and a number of other XBB variants are fueling a slight uptick in hospitalizations and cases within the U.S., but numbers remain below the summer peak that strained hospitals last 12 months. 

Eris, also referred to as EG.5, accounted for 17.3% of all cases as of Saturday, based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

The World Health Organization designated Eris a “variant of interest,” meaning it’s going to be monitored for mutations that would make it more severe. 

XBB.1.16.6 can be starting to surge, accounting for 8% of all cases nationwide as of Saturday, the CDC said.