FDA authorizes Novavax’s updated COVID vaccine targeting JN.1 strain

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Aug 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday granted emergency use authorization for an updated version of Novavax's COVID shot.

The updated vaccine is authorized for use in individuals 12 years of age and older and will target the JN.1 strain of the virus.

Shares of the company were up about 5% in late afternoon trading.

"Today's authorization provides an additional COVID-19 vaccine option," said Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

The company did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on availability.

Earlier this month, the health regulator approved updated COVID-19 vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna targeting the KP.2 variant.

JN.1 was the dominant strain in the United States earlier this year. While it is no longer as prevalent, it is estimated to account for 0.2% of cases over a two-week period ended Aug. 31, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's data showed.

The KP.2 variant, on the other hand, is estimated to account for 3.1%, with KP.3.1.1 now becoming dominant at 42.2%.

In June, the health regulator had changed its strain recommendation for 2024-25 COVID-19 shots, as it asked manufacturers to update the new vaccines to target the KP.2 variant, if feasible, instead of the JN.1 lineage it sought to target earlier.

Novavax's traditional protein-based shot offers an alternative to people who are skeptical of the mRNA vaccines - Moderna's Spikevax and Comirnaty, which is jointly developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.

COVID-19-related hospitalizations and deaths have increased over the past three months in the United States. Demand for the shots, however, has fallen sharply since the peak of the pandemic.

Novavax

expects overall demand

for COVID vaccines in the United States to remain similar to last year, but anticipates its own performance to be better, it said earlier this month. (Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)