And that\u2019s before we consider the Matrix-M novel adjuvant it contains<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n by\u00a0Dr. Meryl Nass<\/strong> You see, the vaccine\u2019s spike protein is grown by genetically engineering baculoviruses to produce spike, and then infecting insect cells with the baculovirus to turn the whole thing into a spike protein factory.<\/p>\n At the CDC\u2019s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meeting that I\u00a0live-blogged<\/a>\u00a0last week, it was revealed that the Novavax vaccine was being rolled out because it could be marketed as a \u201cmore traditional\u201d vaccine, since it was not made from mRNA. Novavax was to be directed to the unvaccinated, although only 10% of the unvaccinated, it was anticipated, would accept it.<\/p>\n The fact that no fetal cells were used in its development was claimed to be a marketing plus. However, thanks to a reader, it turns out that a human fetal cell line, (HEK) 293F, was used in the testing of the vaccine, as described in an article in\u00a0Science<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n NOTHING about this vaccine is traditional.<\/p>\n First, the Novavax company does not own a manufacturing plant, so the vaccine being distributed in the US is\u00a0made at the Serum Institute of India<\/a>.<\/p>\n Second, the adjuvant,\u00a0Matrix-M\u00a0<\/em>(a nonspecific, potent immune stimulant) has never been used before. It is made from the Quillaja saponaria tree. There is another adjuvant that is only used in one (highly reactogenic) US vaccine, Shingrix, which is an extract from this tree. This GSK adjuvant, named ASO1B, contains QS-21, a single extract in the Shingrix vaccine.<\/p>\n The problem is that we don\u2019t know what extracts from the tree are included in\u00a0Matrix-M.<\/em>\u00a0The information is proprietary!\u00a0The\u00a0<\/strong>Matrix-M<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0adjuvant uses two unspecified \u201cfractions\u201d from the Q. saponaria tree, and there exist no data on its safety.\u00a0 (<\/strong>Matrix-M<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0does not contain QS-21, although the company sometimes implies it does, to distract from its novelty.) These two fractions, combined with phospholipids and cholesterol, form the 40 nanometer particles of Matrix M.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\nMeryl\u2019s COVID Newsletter<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n
![\"Novavax](\"http:\/\/www.tomgrimshaw.com\/tomsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Novavax_Armyworm-300x175.jpg\")
<\/p>\n