On Jan. 27, 2021, Vaxart announced that health care economic findings published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine. Computational modeling simulating norovirus infection and transmission in a community setting showed that a potential norovirus vaccine can avert symptomatic cases and result in cost savings.

The study found, among other things, that vaccination against the norovirus can reduce the economic burden of the virus and is cost effective even if priced at $500 per course when vaccinating children under 5 and older adults, a much higher value than previously estimated.

“This study highlights the fact that norovirus is highly contagious and can lead to missed school and work, with productivity losses that can add up,” said Bruce Y. Lee, MD, MBA, senior author of the study, Professor of Health Policy and Management at the City University of New York (CUNY), and executive director of the Public Health Informatics, Computational, and Operations Research (PHICOR). “The preschool-age population can be particularly vulnerable due to heavy social mixing leading to greater spread of the virus, and the older adult population can be susceptible to more severe disease and subsequently experience high rates of outpatient visits and hospitalizations.”

The PHICOR team developed a computational simulation model of different segments of the US population and the spread of norovirus to better understand the value of vaccinating children <5 and adults ≥65 years old against norovirus.

The model simulated the spread of norovirus, subsequent clinical outcomes (e.g., symptoms, hospitalization, death) and associated costs (e.g., direct medical, productivity loss), as well as vaccination.