Novavax, Garattini: “Different mechanism is an advantage”

The advantage of the vaccine just approved by the EMA, Novavax, “which has more or less the same type of effectiveness as the others, lies in the different mechanism of action, this provides us with different weapons that, at least potentially, can be used in different situations and could be crossed with others, if the effectiveness of this strategy is demonstrated that it works in other vaccines. This element, however, we do not know now “. Silvio Garattini, president and founder of the Mario Negri Institute of Pharmacological Research in Milan, explained this to Adnkronos Salute. Read also The Novavax vaccine, explains Garattini, “instead of being based on mRna, it is based on proteins that, once bound to the body’s cells, allow an immune response to develop. It is the same thing that, in another way, it does. mRna “. A ‘diversification’ that in the strategy of a mass vaccination campaign “undoubtedly has its advantages”, says Garattini. Another point in favor of the new product is the greater appeal towards no vax. “Maybe those who have psychological ‘allergies’ towards mRna are convinced, but it is not a strictly scientific advantage”, jokes Garattini, adding however a technical note. “You can not really make comparisons and comparisons with other anti-Covid vaccines. It depends on the population on which they were studied, on which virus they encountered, more or less recently. Making comparisons is impossible, because we are not facing the same. what, “he remarks. On the treatment front, according to Garattini “monoclonals are useful, but they act in the early stages of the infection. They do a bit what vaccines do, but later, when the virus has already infected, to avoid serious pathology. What we lack today are drugs capable of acting in the next phase, when there is the disease, to cure it. These are the drugs we need: having the vaccine and drugs for the treatment we would have greater peace of mind “. In practice, “the goal to be achieved is a therapy for the subsequent phases. There are many researchers engaged in these studies. And we hope that sooner or later the result will be reached. It would be a fundamental step in the fight against the pandemic”, concludes Garattini.