Novavax initiates preclinical testing of intranasal influenza vaccine

“This is an important advancement for our existing technology because it will allow us to reach an even broader population,” said Dr Rick Bright, Novavax’s vice president of Vaccine Development. “There are many parts of the world that do not have accessibility to enough sterile needles to respond to an influenza crisis.”

Historically influenza vaccines have been administered though intramuscular injection. However, the World Health Organization has been proactively seeking alternative delivery methods.

“The problem with needles is that conditions must be highly sterile in order to prevent contamination during the mass vaccination that would take place in the event of an emergency,” said Dr Rick Bright.

Novavax is investigating the intranasal delivery route using both the company’s seasonal and pandemic virus-like particle (VLP) vaccines in preclinical models. Novavax said that the early data indicated that the intranasal vaccine could trigger a protective immune response as strong as the intramuscular formulation.

Novavax scientists are using the Clade 2 H5N1 influenza virus, for both the intranasal and intramuscular versions of its pandemic influenza vaccine. The World Health Organization recently changed its H5N1 avian influenza guidance to indicate that pandemic vaccine candidates should target viruses from the Clade 2 family rather than the earlier Clade 1 family.