Washington, September 3: Early results from an experimental coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine, developed by US-based Novavax, showed no side-effects. Novavax's potential COVID-19 vaccine, NVX-CoV2373, is engineered from the genetic sequence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease. It includes a protein from the coronavirus to prompt the immune system to make antibodies to fight infection. COVAX: US Will Not Join Global Effort to Find COVID-19 Vaccine Led by WHO, Says Trump Administration.

Early results from NVX-CoV2373 showed no major health safety issue and suggested that it had stimulated the desired immune system responses, researchers reported on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. As part of the study, 108 health people were administrated the vaccine. Most of the volunteers also received an adjuvant - a substance often included in vaccines to boost the immune system's response. COVID-19 Vaccine Update: Russia to Start Mass Vaccination of People Vulnerable to Coronavirus in November or December.

The researchers reported that those who got adjuvant with the lower dose made antibodies in far greater numbers than what's typically seen in people recovering from COVID-19. Last month, Novavax said that NVX-CoV2373 had elicited robust antibody responses and appeared to be safe in a phase-I human trial. The trial evaluated two doses of the vaccine across two dose levels -- 5 and 25 microgram -- in 131 healthy adults ages 18-59 years.

Novavax is the third US company to release phase-1 data of COVID-19 vaccines after Moderna and Pfizer. Novavax was awarded $1.6 billion by the US government as part of Operation Warp Speed (OWS), a program to deliver millions of doses of a safe, effective vaccine for COVID-19 to the US population.

The funding is being used by Novavax to complete late-stage clinical development, including a pivotal phase 3 clinical trials, establish large-scale manufacturing, and deliver 100 million doses of NVX-CoV2373 beginning as early as late 2020, the company said. (With IANS inputs)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 03, 2020 02:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).