A comprehensive trial in the UK on whether COVID-19 vaccines can be safely mixed has been expanded to include shots made by Moderna and Novavax, researchers announced on Wednesday.
The Com-Cov study, led by Oxford University, was launched in February to compare the effect of administering a first dose of AstraZeneca – Oxford AZN,
AZN,
vaccine, followed a few weeks later by the vaccine made jointly by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer PFE,
and biotechnology BioNTech BNTX,
and vice versa.
The expanded study will seek to recruit adults over the age of 50 who have received the first vaccination in the last eight to twelve weeks.
These volunteers, who will have received the vaccine from the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, which was developed in conjunction with Oxford University, or the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, will randomly receive the same trait or that of Modern MRNA biotechnology,
0A45,
or that of the pharmaceutical Novavax NVAX,
0A3S,
for a second dose.
Read: Modern, BioNTech stocks increase after regulators stop using J&J vaccine
The six new “arms” of the trial will each involve 175 people, and the total number of participants in the trial will be 1,050.
Working in eight locations in the UK, researchers will monitor the immune system’s responses, as well as any adverse reactions, such as fever, to these new vaccine combinations. The trial is designed as a study called “non-inferiority,” meaning that its intent is to show that mixing is not substantially worse than not mixing it.
“If we can show that these mixed programs generate an immune response as good as standard programs and without a significant increase in vaccine reactions, this will possibly allow more people to complete the COVID-19 immunization course faster,” Matthew Snape said. , associate professor of pediatrics and vaccinology at Oxford University and chief investigator of the trial, in a statement.
“This would also create resilience within the system in the event of a lack of availability of any of the vaccines,” Snape added.
Read: The launch of the Modern COVID-19 vaccine begins in England, offering an alternative to children under 30 in AstraZeneca
The extended study comes after the deployment of the Modern vaccine in England began this week across the UK
The Novavax vaccine was found to be 96% effective in preventing cases caused by the original version of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 in a final-stage trial conducted in the UK The shot, which is manufactured with the support of the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline GSK,
in the UK, it has not yet been approved and is in the process of being reviewed by the country’s Medicines Regulator, the Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
Read: The chief financial officer of Novavax will step down, according to the biotech company
The results of the original Com-Cov trial, which only used the AstraZeneca and Pfizer – BioNTech vaccine, are expected in May, while the results of the second phase should come out in June or July, although the study it will last a year.
If it shows promising results, the MHRA and the Joint Vaccination and Immunization Committee would formally evaluate the safety and efficacy of any new vaccination regimen before releasing it to patients.