July 13 (Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized the use of Novavax Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine (NVAX.O), paving the way for a more traditional vaccine technology. which has aroused hope for wider acceptance among vaccine skeptics.
Shares of Novavax rose 1.3% to $ 70.89 after its two-dose vaccine became the fourth COVID vaccine to be authorized for use in adults in the United States.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has yet to sign the use of the vaccine before it can be made available to people.
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A group of CDC vaccine advisers is expected to meet Tuesday, but the agenda has not yet been released.
Earlier this week, the U.S. government said it had secured 3.2 million doses of Novavax vaccine, which it plans to launch once the company completes quality testing in the coming weeks.
More than two-thirds of the U.S. population has been completely vaccinated with injections from Modern Inc. (MRNA.O), Pfizer-BioNTech or Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N).
U.S. health officials expect people who have opted not to take the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine, which are based on innovative messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, to opt for the Novavax protein-based vaccine.
The vaccine, already approved in Europe, is based on a technology that has been used for decades to fight diseases such as hepatitis B and the flu.
“Today’s authorization offers U.S. adults who have not yet received a vaccine against COVID-19 another option that meets stringent FDA standards,” FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said in a statement.
In Europe, however, demand for the vaccine has not been significantly high, with some 242,000 doses of the vaccine administered since its launch in December, prompting Novavax to increase its focus on lower-income countries.
The company’s initial application for the US vaccine authorization was delayed by almost a year due to development and production problems, making it a late entrant to the vaccine market against COVID- 19.
Novavax has projected between $ 4 billion and $ 5 billion in sales this year. Analysts expect sales at the lower end of that range, according to Refinitiv.
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Report by Manas Mishra and Mrinalika Roy in Bangalore; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi and Devika Syamnath
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