RTTNews | Dec 22, 2021 05:41PM EST

17:41 Wednesday, December 22, 2021 (RTTNews.com) - Shares of Novavax, Inc. (NVAX) gained over 5% in extended trading session on Wednesday after the biotechnology company announced that data from its ongoing Phase 2 boost study of Covid-19 vaccine demonstrated "strong immune responses" against the Omicron variant and other circulating variants of the coronavirus.

"In the midst of an evolving pandemic, NVX-CoV2373 showed strong immune responses against Omicron and other circulating variants. We are encouraged that boosted responses against all variants were comparable to those associated with high vaccine efficacy in our Phase 3 clinical trials, suggesting that NVX-CoV2373 can play an important role in the ongoing fight against new variants," said Gregory Glenn, President of Research and Development, Novavax.

"Given the continued evolution of the coronavirus, the development of an Omicron vaccine could be necessary. Novavax has cloned, expressed and characterized the Omicron spike protein vaccine and will soon enter the GMP-phase of production. We expect to begin clinical studies in the first quarter of 2022."

The company said that two-dose primary regimen of NVX-CoV2373 demonstrated cross-reactive immune responses against Omicron and other variants, while a third dose produced increased immune responses comparable to or exceeding levels associated with protection in Phase 3 clinical trials, with anti-spike IgG titers after increasing 5.4-fold (prototype) to 9.3-fold (Omicron) from peak responses seen after 2-dose primary vaccination.

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