Locally-produced vaccine is set to help millions
A vaccine tested and preparing for production on Teesside looks set to deliver 60million doses of a life-saving Covid jab.
The Hartlepool-tested Novavax vaccine has been found to be 89.3% effective, with the Government already signing up to take stock to help cover people across the UK.
If given approval by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for use in the UK, production is likely to start in March or April at the Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies’s plant in Belasis Avenue in Billingham.
The vaccine has been supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the nation's largest funder of health and care research, with late stage studies finding it is effective against the new variants of the virus.
The largest ever double blind study saw more than 15,000 volunteers – including 532 from the Durham Tees Valley area – take part in research across two months, with a quarter aged over 65 and a large proportion had underlying medical conditions.
Half were given injections 21 days apart, while the remainder were given a placebo.
If given the go ahead, it would become the fourth to be approved for use in the UK, while a single-shot jab made by Johnson and Johnson could also be in use by the second half of this year.
Professor Caroline Wroe is Clinical Director at NIHR Clinical Research Network North East and North Cumbria and Co-Principal Investigator of the Novavax study in Hartlepool.
She said: “I am delighted to hear the results of the Novavax study.
"It is fantastic news.”