This illustration, taken on January 16, 2022, shows a vial labeled “Novavax V COVID-19 Vaccine.”
Dado Ruvic | Reuters
The Food and Drug Administration has given approval Novavax's updated protein-based Covid vaccine for emergency use in people 12 and older on Friday, clearing the way for the vaccine to compete with Pfizer And ModernIt's stinging this fall and winter.
Novavax’s vaccine targets the highly contagious omicron subvariant JN.1, which began circulating widely in the U.S. earlier this year. JN.1 accounted for just 0.2% of cases circulating nationwide as of this week, according to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Novavax produces protein-based vaccines, which cannot be quickly modified to fight a different strain of the virus.
Despite this, the biotechnology company has said its vaccine protects against descendants of JN.1 that are currently dominant in the US, including KP.2.3, KP.3, KP.3.1.1 and LB.1.
“Our updated vaccine targets JN.1, the ‘parent strain’ of the currently circulating variants, and shows robust cross-reactivity with JN.1 viruses,” said John Jacobs, CEO of Novavax, in a statement.
Novavax expects the vaccine to be “broadly available” in thousands of locations across the U.S., including retail and independent pharmacies and regional grocery stores.
Shares of Novavax rose more than 8% on Friday after the announcement.
The FDA’s decision comes just a week after it approved a new round of messenger RNA shots from Pfizer and Moderna, both of which target a different spinoff of JN.1, called KP.2. Last year, the agency authorized Novavax’s shot nearly a month after it approved vaccines from its rivals, putting the company at a disadvantage.
Public health officials see Novavax’s vaccine as a valuable alternative for people who don’t want mRNA shots from Pfizer and Moderna, which use a newer vaccine method to teach cells how to make proteins that trigger an immune response to Covid. Novavax’s vaccine, meanwhile, fights the virus using protein-based technology, a decades-old method used in routine vaccinations for hepatitis B and shingles.
It is unclear how many people will receive a new Covid shot this fall and winter.
According to CDC data through early May, only 22.5% of adults in the US have received the latest round of vaccinations last fall.
