U.S. biotech group Novaax on Thursday announced it would kick off its final phases of testing an experimental coronavirus treatment in the United Kingdom.
The third stage trials will be conducted in the United Kingdom, in tandem with the government's Vaccines Taskforce, and targets to enroll 10,000 participants over the next four to six weeks. Another massive testing was set to unfurl in the U.S. next month.
The British advanced trials, intended to examine closely the safety and effectiveness of Novavax' potential drug - the NVX-CoV2373 - will involve subjects who are 18 to 84 years of age, with or without existing conditions, and focusing on minorities and others that are most affected by the disease.
The clinical trials mark the fifth late-phase tests from a vaccine producer supported by the Trump administration's Operation Warp Speed to fast-track the COVID-19 vaccine to market, and among 11 globally to enter this critical stage.
Gregory Glenn, Novavax president of research and development, said the group is very optimistic that this pivotal third phase trial will provide a near-term view of its potential treatment's effectiveness, considering the high level of virus infections tallied and estimated to continue in Britain.
Novavax is one of the premier global vaccine companies scrambling to produce a drug to combat COVID-19, for which there are currently no vaccines approved. The biotech giant has previously disclosed that it expects to file for U.S. approval of its experimental vaccine in December.
"The Novavax treatment approach is a well-worn strategy," Dr. Paul A. Offit, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, was quoted by the New Times as saying. Offit serves on the Food and Drug Administration advisory panel that evaluates coronavirus vaccines.
According to Glenn, a final phase test in the U.S. will be somewhat different. That research will seek to enroll 30,000 subjects and prioritize symptomatic cases with various types of so-called endpoints and expected to be carried out by the middle of next month.
