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US Biotech Firm Novavax Starts Covid-19 Vaccine Trials on Australian Volunteers

US Biotech Firm Novavax Starts Covid-19 Vaccine Trials on Australian Volunteers
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By Staff, Agencies

Giant biotech firm Novavax is testing a new coronavirus vaccine on human subjects for the first time, launching a phase one clinical trial with a massive grant from an agency founded by Bill Gates, kicking off a storm of concerns online.

The Maryland-based pharma has begun its trial, which will dose some 130 Australian participants with the new inoculation, hoping to see results as early as July and proceed to the second phase.

“Administering our vaccine in the first participants of this clinical trial is a significant achievement, bringing us one step closer toward addressing the fundamental need for a vaccine in the fight against the global Covid 19 pandemic,” Stanley Erck, Novavax President and CEO, said in a statement on Monday night.

The new initiative got off the ground with a massive $388 million-dollar investment from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovation [CEPI] – its largest donation to date – a public health foundation established by billionaire Bill Gates.

Novavax is not the first US biotech firm to launch clinical trials for a coronavirus inoculation, however, with Massachusetts’ Moderna rolling out human testing in March and reporting positive results. At least five other vaccines are underway elsewhere, including three in China and two others in the United Kingdom and Russia.

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