$Novavax (NVAX.US)$ Vivek Shinde, the Vice President of Clin...

Vivek Shinde, the Vice President of Clinical Development at Novavax, recently discussed the company's innovative use of machine learning (ML) tools to improve the process of determining vaccine doses. Traditionally, this process has been quite crude and simplistic. However, by employing ML, Novavax was able to vary different components of a multi-component vaccine and use ML to understand the entire surface of response in a three-dimensional space.

In particular, during trials for their COVID-19-Influenza combination vaccine, Novavax used a Design of Experiments (DoE) modeling approach. This method allowed for a more refined selection of doses for both the COVID-19 and influenza antigens, compared to traditional methods. The insights gained from these trials are crucial for the upcoming Phase 2 confirmation trial. This approach also demonstrated the effectiveness of Novavax’s proprietary saponin-based Matrix-M™ adjuvant, which enhances the immune response and stimulates high levels of neutralizing antibodies.