Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX), a biotechnology company dedicated to developing and commercializing next-generation vaccines for serious infectious diseases, announced positive results from the Phase 1/2 clinical trial of its COVID-19-Influenza Combination (CIC) vaccine candidate. Data demonstrated the CIC vaccine’s ability to generate immune responses, including both antibody and polyfunctional CD4+ T-cell (lymphocytes that help coordinate the immune response) responses against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and homologous and heterologous influenza strains. The CIC combines Novavax’ COVID-19 vaccine (NVX-CoV2373) and its quadrivalent influenza vaccine candidate.
The CIC vaccine formulations demonstrated induction of polyfunctional CD4+ T-cell responses against both SARS-CoV-2 and homologous and heterologous influenza strains at levels comparable to stand-alone NVX-CoV2373 and quadrivalent influenza vaccine candidate reference formulations. NVX-CoV2373 has previously been shown to induce functional SARS-CoV-2–specific CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses, and Novavax’ quadrivalent influenza vaccine candidate has previously been shown to induce cross-reactive polyfunctional CD4+ T-cell responses. T-cell responses are thought to play an important role in the immune system’s control of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza virus infections (e.g., by limiting disease severity and clearing infection), and in increasing the breadth of immunity.
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