US biotech company Novavax Inc
has joined the race to test coronavirus vaccine candidates on
humans and said it was targeting production of over a billion
doses of its vaccine candidate next year.
The company, which enrolled its first participants on
Monday, said it expected preliminary data on safety and
indicators of an immune response from the trial in July.
Shares of the company jumped nearly 15% to $52.97 on
Tuesday, a day after US trading resumed following Monday's
Memorial Day closure.
The announcement of Novavax's vaccine trial comes as
drugmakers pause clinical trials on drugs for other ailments to
focus on COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus
that has resulted in more than 346,000 deaths globally.
Novavax aims to produce over a billion vaccine doses next
year and would ship some vaccines itself and others through
partnerships with non-profit organizations and drugmakers,
Novavax's Chief Executive Officer Stanley Erck said in a CNBC
interview.
"This is one of the largest opportunities or obligations to
distribute vaccines globally," Erck said on CNBC.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday said that 10
experimental vaccines were being tested on humans, including the
Novavax compound.
Groups including CanSino, Moderna and an
alliance between Oxford University and AstraZeneca have
moved or are close to moving on to enlarged trials from initial
testing on small groups of participants.
Novavax said the Phase 1 trial in Australia would involve
about 130 healthy participants aged 18 to 59, with a second
phase to be conducted later in several countries, including the
United States.
The Phase 2 trial will assess immunity, safety and Covid-19
disease reduction in a broader age range, Novavax said.
Experts predict a vaccine could take 12 to 18 months to
develop.