Novavax has announced its participation in a newly expanded investigator-initiated Phase II clinical trial called Comparing Covid-19 Vaccine Schedule Combinations – Stage 2 (Com-COV2), to be conducted by the University of Oxford and supported by the UK Vaccines Taskforce.
Novavax’ recombinant protein vaccine candidate, NVX-CoV2373, is one of four Covid-19 vaccines that will be studied to evaluate the potential for combined regimens that mix vaccines from different manufacturers to achieve immune protection against Covid-19.
“Novavax’ addition to this important study reflects the urgency of finding innovative ways to protect as many people as possible in a dynamic pandemic landscape,” said Filip Dubovsky, Executive Vice President, Chief Medical Officer, Novavax. “The potential utility of pooling public health resources, including all available vaccines, could help us get ahead of an evolving virus.”
Com-COV2 will include 1050 adults 50 years of age or older who received their first vaccination during the prior 8-12 weeks. Volunteer study participants will receive one of four different vaccines as a second dose, 350 of whom will be administered NVX-CoV2373. The research will compare the immune system responses from those who receive a heterologous regimen to those who receive a homologous regimen.
“The focus of these studies is to explore whether multiple Covid-19 vaccines can be used more flexibly, with different vaccines being used for the first and second doses,” said Matthew Snape, Associate Professor in Paediatrics and Vaccinology at the University of Oxford, and Chief Investigator on the trial. “If we can show that these mixed schedules generate an immune response that is as good as the standard schedules, this could potentially allow more people to complete their Covid-19 immunisation course more rapidly.”
