Novavax starts Phase 3 COVID vaccine trial with 30,000 volunteers in the U.S. and Mexico

Novavax Inc. NVAX, -3.16% declared on Monday, December 28th, it is starting a late-stage trial of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate with plans to enroll up to 30,000 volunteers at about 115 sites in the U.S. and Mexico.

The trial is being supported by partners of Operation Warp Speed, the federal government program that aims to quickly develop vaccines and therapies, including the Department of Defense and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response.

Barda is providing up to $1.6 billion to fund the trial under a Department of Defense agreement. The trial will be randomized, placebo-controlled, and will evaluate the efficacy of the treatment, called NVX-CoV2373, in patients aged 18 and older.

Shares were slightly higher Monday, and have gained more than 3,000% in 2020 on hopes for the vaccine.

Source: MarketWatch