Switzerland approves its first protein-based Covid vaccine

Keystone / Matthias Bein

The Swiss medical regulator has approved the Nuvaxovid vaccine for adults making it the fourth Covid-19 vaccine authorised in the country. 

Swissmedic announced its approval on Wednesday making Nuvaxovid the first protein-based vaccine to be licensed in Switzerland. The American biotech firm Novavax had applied for approval on February 14 through Swiss partner Future Health Pharma.

Unlike other Covid-19 vaccine approved in Switzerland – the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna and the viral vector vaccine from Johnson & Johnson – Nuvaxovid is a protein-based vaccine. According to Swissmedic, it contains a non-infectious component from the surface of the SaRS-CoV-2 virus which triggers a protective immune response when the body’s immune cells come into contact with it. The vaccine contains an adjuvant to strengthen the immune response.

The vaccine must be administered in two doses three weeks apart. The level of protection offered by Nuvaxovid seven days after the second dose is 90%. It can be stored in a refrigerator for up to nine months. 

“We are proud that Switzerland is part of the growing list of countries approving Nuvaxovid and that people in Switzerland will have a protein-based Covid-19 vaccine option,” said Novavax CEO Stanley C. Erck.

Swissmedic’s decision was based on the totality of preclinical, manufacturing and clinical trial data submitted for review. This includes two pivotal phase III clinical trials: PREVENT-19, which enrolled approximately 30,000 participants aged 18 and older in the US and Mexico and was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.