Novavax vaccines said to be effective vs UK, South African variants to arrive by late 2nd quarter or early 3rd quarter of 2021
(Eagle News) – Some 30 million doses of the Novavax vaccines manufactured in India are currently being negotiated by Philippine officials who are now concluding and finalizing the supply contract.
“Thirty million is currently the negotiated amount for the government purchase of Novavax alone,” said Indian Ambassador to the Philippines, Hon. Shambhu Kumaran, who spoke during a Malacanang press briefing on Thursday, March 11.
He said that the doses could arrive in the country either by late second semester or in the early third quarter of the year, and thus would provide the backbone of the Philippine government’s vaccination program for the second half of this year.
The Philippine team who went to India is led by vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., and is composed of representatives from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Department of Finance, and the Office of the President.
Novovax is a US-developed vaccine which has been found to be effective against both the UK and the South African variants.
-Term sheet signed in January-
“As you rightly said, Secretary Galvez is in India right now. The term sheet that was signed by the Philippine government in January with the Serum Institute of India for supply of the Novavax vaccine which is US-developed vaccine being manufactured in India,” Amb. Kumaran said.
“The discussions are essentially underway for 30 million doses, and I believe that the Philippine side has invested in a larger number and that detail is being currently negotiated,” he noted in a Malacanang press briefing on Thursday, March 11.
The Ambassador said he believes that the high-level Philippine delegation will already “conclude the discussions, agree on the supply contract.”
“And we’re very hopeful that this vaccine can reach early in the third quarter or the late second quarter of this year. So it will provide the backbone for the Philippines vaccination effort in the second half of 2021 this year,” he said.
“I think Novavax is pretty much a done deal. We’re hoping the Secretary Galvez will be able to announce that news as soon as possible,” he noted.
Ambassador Kumaran said that the Philippine officials, while in India, will not only close the contract on Novavax but also “possibly have a discussion on subsequent supplies of AstraZeneca as well from the Serum Institute.”
The Serum Institute of India is the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world.
-More vaccines against COVID-19-
The Indian envoy also said that the vaccines against COVID-19 developed by Indian scientists, Covaxin by Bharat Biotech is also another vaccine to consider. He said that Bharat has already applied for an emergency use authorization (EUA) with the Philippine FDA.
“I believe as soon as Secretary Galvez and team are back, we should be able to commence their engagement,” he said.
“So that vaccine also we’d like to see a larger number of doses. The advantage of Bharat is that they could potentially start supplies in late April or in May itself. So that will be, I think, a useful supplement to some of the other vaccine supplies that are coming in to the Philippines,” Amb. Kumaran said.
-Efficacy vs COVID-19-
Novovax vaccine on COVID-19 has a 89.3 percent efficacy against a combination of Covid-19 variants based on the study of more than 15,000 participants according to UK study results cited by Pharmaceutical Technology.com.
“Novavax is the fourth company to publish interim Phase III data for a Covid-19 vaccine. Importantly, this vaccine works differently to the three approved vaccines and it has proven to be efficacious against two emerging variants of Covid-19 in the UK and South Africa,” according to an article from the website of Pharmaceutical Technology (https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/features/novavaxs-vaccine-covid19-results/)
The efficacy against only the emerging UK variant was 85.6%, compared to 95.6% for the previous dominant variant.
The Novovax vaccine is said that 85.6 percent effective against the emerging UK variant, and 95.6 percent effective against previous dominant variant of the COVID-19 virus.
Meanwhile, the vaccine developed by Bharat Biotechnology “has shown 81% efficacy in the interim data, making it among the best vaccines in the world,” Amb. Kumaran said.
He also said that the Philippine delegation is also working on getting AstraZeneca doses sourced from Serum Institute.
“And the third pipeline is, potentially which is still to be determined because there are licensing issues to be addressed, potentially AstraZeneca sourced from Serum Institute also and in addition to these both Novavax and Bharat, a third vaccine supply from India that could potentially happen,” he said.
(Eagle News Service)
