Novavax Researcher Says No Chance Of A ‘Shortcut’ In Vaccine Safety



Enlarge this image

Three potential coronavirus vaccines are kept in a tray at Novavax labs in Gaithersburg, Md., in March 2020. The company has moved into phase 3 trials in the U.K.

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images




hide caption

toggle caption

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images


Shots — Health News
With Limited COVID-19 Vaccine Doses, Who Would Get Them First?

And the U.K. infection rate zooming up, as you put it, is a good thing for you because you’re looking for places in the world where a lot of people are infected and your vaccine might work on them.

Exactly. The way it happens in the trial is you need cases, right? So you obviously couldn’t prove anything if there are no cases. The more cases in your trial setting, the faster you accumulate the evidence that the vaccine works.

The CEO of Novavax was one of nine pharmaceutical executives who came together to reassure the public in a published statement that their vaccines will be safe and effective, not a rush job that would potentially harm anyone’s health. It is stunning in a way that they would feel they have to do that. Would you comment on the fact that they felt they had to?

Look, I have mixed feelings because our M.O. here is to be transparent. We know the FDA [has] a formula that they’re not going to deviate from. So I don’t think that there’s going to be any chance that there’s going to be some shortcut made. But there’s so much worry in so many areas about vaccination that … it’s reasonable to reassure the public that’s the case.

And it’s interesting now that this is such a high-profile topic. People are interested in the details, which they never were. They didn’t know how vaccines work. They didn’t know how you did, that you even did trials to show how they work, etc. So there’s a lot of scrutiny on that. And anything we can do to help the public confidence is good.

But this is also a vaccine trial that has been more politicized, maybe, than any other one. I’m interested in how the politics of this are affecting the business and science aspect of this for you.

I kind of ignore it all. My team is focused on generating convincing evidence that the vaccine is safe. The FDA has laid out the pathway to approval. There’s nothing unclear about what has to be done. I’m a pediatrician. I believe vaccinations have very positively impacted the world. And so that’s how I look at the day. My day is, I’m going to get up and create that evidence that will lead to utilization and saving the world.

Art Silverman and Christopher Intagliata produced and edited the audio interview.



Комментарии 0

Оставить комментарий