Preclinical Proof-of-Concept Studies Published for Novavax Seasonal Influenza Virus-Like-Partic...(-6 season. In addition to antib...)

In addition to antibody response, the study also examined cell-mediated immunity. T cell responses in mice vaccinated with the seasonal VLP vaccine were compared with T cell responses in mice vaccinated with a commercial influenza vaccine. Of note, mice vaccinated with the VLP vaccine had higher levels of HA flu-specific CD8+ T cells than mice vaccinated with the commercial vaccine. CD8+ T cells play a role in clearing virus from the respiratory tract, which may be an important factor in preventing influenza-associated pneumonia, a leading cause of flu-related hospitalizations in adults older than 65 years of age.

"This study demonstrates the breadth of the immune response induced by the VLP vaccine," said Ted Ross, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Center for Vaccine Research, University of Pittsburgh. "Not only did the vaccine induce robust HAI responses, it also induced HA-specific CD8+ T cell responses that were superior to those of a split vaccine. This finding may be reflective of the integrity of the structure of the HA protein presented in the VLP."

"We are pleased with the results of this study, which supported the human clinical trials of our seasonal influenza VLP vaccine," said Dr. Rahul Singhvi, president and CEO of Novavax. "We also observed robust HAI responses among subjects in the clinical trial of our seasonal flu vaccine, which we announced last December, including responses against drifted strains. We look forward to future studies to evaluate the breadth of the immune response induced by our VLP-based influenza vaccines."

ABOUT NOVAVAX

Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company creating novel vaccines, including H1N1, to address a broad range of infectious diseases worldwide using advanced proprietary virus-like-par
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