Novavax exec says its new COVID shot should work against variants on the
rise
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[June 06, 2023]
By Michael Erman
(Reuters) - Novavax Inc's head of research and development on Monday
said an updated COVID-19 vaccine the company is already producing is
likely to be protective against other fast-growing coronavirus variants
circulating in the U.S.
Protein-based vaccines like Novavax's take longer to produce than the
messenger RNA-based (mRNA) versions made by Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech.
Because of that, the company said earlier this year it had begun
producing a version of the vaccine to target the currently dominant
XBB.1.5 variant of the virus at commercial scale.
A panel of outside advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is
scheduled to meet on June 15 to discuss strain selection for this year's
COVID-19 booster shots, and regulators are expected to make their
decision shortly afterward.
Novavax R&D chief Filip Dubovsky in an interview made the case for the
XBB.1.5-targeting vaccine, saying it was a good approach that should
also provide protection against related variants on the rise, such as
XBB.2.3.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Jun/06/images/ads/current/LPL_small%201.gif)
"You'd want the 1.5 more than likely" if your aim was to target newly
circulating variants, he said. "The XBB.2.3 is a little bit closer to
1.5."
The company has a lot riding on its updated COVID booster.
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![](../images/060623PIX/health33.jpg)
A woman holds a small bottle labeled
with a "Coronavirus COVID-19 Vaccine" sticker and a medical syringe
in front of displayed Novavax logo in this illustration taken,
October 30, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Jun/06/images/ads/current/graue_lda_GREYTRUCKpreowned_052223.jpg) With an underused COVID-19 as
vaccine its lone product, Novavax said earlier this year it may not
be able to stay solvent and is relying on a successful launch of an
updated shot in time for a booster campaign this fall to improve its
prospects.
Dubovsky said the company has also started work on vaccines that
target the XBB.1.16 and XBB.2.3 variants, but that those are at an
earlier stage of development.
A meeting of international regulators last month chaired by the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration's top vaccine regulator, Peter Marks,
concluded that an XBB strain of the virus was an "adequate
candidate" for the vaccine update.
Marks also presented data at that meeting suggesting that the spike
proteins on the surface of newer variants were close enough to
XBB.1.5 to make it likely an effective choice for next generation
boosters.
(Reporting by Michael Erman; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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