The clinical trials of the Covid-19 vaccine ‘Novovax’ is in the advanced stage of completion in India, and the Serum Institute of India (SII) may launch it by September, said its CEO Adar Poonawalla. Novavax announced an agreement with SII for its Covid-19 vaccine NVX-CoV2373. The pharma giant can apply for the license of the vaccine even before its trial in the country, he told a news channel.

The vaccine candidate ‘NVX-CoV2373’ demonstrated 100 percent protection against moderate and severe disease, 90.4 percent efficacy overall, and met the primary endpoint in its PREVENT-19 pivotal Phase 3 trial, Novavax said in a statement on June 14. The study enrolled 29,960 participants across 119 sites in the US and Mexico to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity of the vaccine, it added. The pharma company is also planning to start clinical trials of Covovax for children in July. It will soon apply to the drug regulator to approve the vaccine’s trial on children, Poonawalla added.

Novavax’s coronavirus vaccine has demonstrated 93 percent efficacy against predominantly circulating variants of concern and variants of interest, Novavax said in the statement. “Today, Novavax is one step closer to addressing the critical and persistent global public health need for additional Covid-19 vaccines. These clinical results reinforce that NVX-CoV2373 is extremely effective and offers complete protection against both moderate and severe Covid-19 infection,” Novavax President and Chief Executive Officer Stanley C Erck said.