Could a combo Covid-19/flu vaccine be coming our way?

Vaccine developer Novavax has announced clinical trials for a combination COVID-19-flu vaccine.

On Wednesday, Sept. 8, the company announced enrollment of the first participants in a Phase 1/2 study to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of a combination vaccine using Novavax's seasonal influenza and COVID-19 vaccines. The clinical trial combines Novavax's recombinant protein-based NVX-CoV2373 and NanoFlu™ vaccine candidates and patented saponin-based Matrix-M™ adjuvant in a single formulation (COVID-NanoFlu Combination Vaccine). Both NVX-CoV2373 and NanoFlu have previously demonstrated strong results as standalone vaccines in Phase 3 clinical trials.

"This study is the first-of-its-kind to evaluate the vaccine's potential to induce a robust immune response, augmented by our Matrix-M adjuvant, against two life-threatening diseases simultaneously," said Gregory M. Glenn, M.D., President of Research and Development, Novavax, in a news release. "The combination of these two vaccines, which have individually delivered outstanding results with favorable safety and tolerability profiles, may lead to greater efficiencies for the healthcare system and achieve high levels of protection against COVID-19 and influenza with a single regimen."

The trial will be conducted in Australia and will involve 640 healthy adults between the ages of 50 and 70 years who have been infected before with the coronavirus or given an authorized COVID-19 vaccine at least eight weeks before the study.

Participants will receive a combination of Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine candidate, NVX-CoV2373, and its influenza shot NanoFlu, along with an adjuvant or vaccine booster.

In preclinical studies, the COVID-NanoFlu Combination Vaccine demonstrated robust, functional immune responses to each component of the quadrivalent influenza vaccine and the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, with Matrix-M adjuvant playing a key role.