Novavax Inc.’s (NASDAQ:NVAX) COVID-19 vaccine was 96% effective in preventing cases caused by the original version of the coronavirus in a late-stage human trial conducted in the United Kingdom.
The company announced the trial results of its vaccine after markets closed Thursday and said it plans to seek regulatory approval to begin inoculating people as soon as possible.
Novavax also reported that its vaccine was 86% effective in protecting people against the more contagious virus variant first discovered and now prevalent in the United Kingdom.
However, the vaccine was only 55% effective in a separate, smaller trial in South Africa, where volunteers were primarily exposed to another newer, more contagious variant of COVID-19 that is widely circulating there and spreading around the world.
In both trials, the vaccine was 100% effective in preventing serious illness and death. Results from the final analysis of the United Kingdom trial were largely in line with interim data released in January, which also showed the Novavax vaccine to be 96% effective against the original version of the coronavirus and around 86% effective against the British variant.
Novavax said that it expects to use the data to submit for regulatory authorization in various countries. Novavax’s stock was up more than 20% in premarket trading Friday at $225 a share.