On Aug. 17, 2020, Novavax announced the beginning of a Phase 2b clinical trial in South Africa to evaluate the efficacy of NVX-CoV2373, Novavaxﾒ COVID-19 vaccine candidate. Dr. Shabir Madhi, Professor of Vaccinology at Wits University, will lead the clinical trial, which is supported in part by a $15 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. NVX-CoV2373 is a stable, prefusion protein made using Novavaxﾒ proprietary nanoparticle technology and includes Novavaxﾒ proprietary Matrix-Mﾙ adjuvant.