Novavax, Inc., a biotechnology company dedicated to developing and commercializing next-generation vaccines for serious infectious diseases, announced that New Zealand’s Medsafe has granted provisional approval of NVX-CoV2373, Novavax’ COVID-19 vaccine (adjuvanted), for active immunization to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 in individuals 18 years of age and older. The vaccine will be supplied to New Zealand under the brand name Nuvaxovid™.
“The provisional approval of Nuvaxovid by Medsafe will enable Novavax to deliver the first protein-based COVID-19 vaccine to New Zealand,” said Stanley C. Erck, President and Chief Executive Officer, Novavax. “We thank Medsafe for its thorough review and, as the pandemic continues to evolve, we remain committed to supporting New Zealand and the world in the fight against COVID-19.”
The provisional approval by Medsafe is based on evaluation of the quality, safety, and efficacy data submitted for review. This includes two pivotal Phase 3 clinical trials: PREVENT-19 enrolled approximately 30,000 participants in the U.S. and Mexico, the results of which were published in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM); and a trial with almost 15,000 participants in the U.K., the results of which were also published in NEJM. In both trials, NVX-CoV2373 demonstrated efficacy and a reassuring safety and tolerability profile. Serious and severe adverse events were low in number and balanced between vaccine and placebo groups. The most common adverse reactions observed during clinical studies (frequency category of very common ≥1/10) were headache, nausea or vomiting, myalgia, arthralgia, injection site tenderness/pain, fatigue, and malaise. Novavax will continue to collect and analyze real-world data, including the monitoring of safety and the evaluation of variants, as the vaccine is distributed.
Novavax and the New Zealand Government previously announced an advance purchase agreement (APA) for 10.7 million doses of Novavax’ COVID-19 vaccine. This provisional approval leverages Novavax’ manufacturing partnership with Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, which will supply initial doses to New Zealand. The provisional approval will later be supplemented with data from additional manufacturing sites in Novavax’ global supply chain.
Novavax received conditional marketing authorization for NVX-CoV2373 in the European Union, emergency use listing (EUL) from the World Health Organization (WHO), and was granted provisional registration by the Therapeutic Goods Administration in Australia, among others. The vaccine is also currently under review by multiple regulatory agencies worldwide, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
About Novavax
Novavax, Inc. is a biotechnology company that promotes improved health globally through the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative vaccines to prevent serious infectious diseases. The company’s proprietary recombinant technology platform harnesses the power and speed of genetic engineering to efficiently produce highly immunogenic nanoparticles designed to address urgent global health needs. NVX-CoV2373, the company’s COVID-19 vaccine, has received authorization from multiple regulatory authorities globally, including Conditional Marketing Authorization from the European Commission and Emergency Use Listing from the World Health Organization. The vaccine is also under review by multiple regulatory agencies worldwide. NanoFlu™, the company’s quadrivalent influenza nanoparticle vaccine, met all primary objectives in its pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial in older adults. Novavax is currently evaluating a COVID-NanoFlu combination vaccine in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial, which combines the company’s NVX-CoV2373 and NanoFlu vaccine candidates. These vaccine candidates incorporate Novavax’ proprietary saponin-based Matrix-M™ adjuvant to enhance the immune response and stimulate high levels of neutralizing antibodies.
