(Reuters) -Novavax Inc said on Monday its combined flu and COVID-19 vaccine produced functional antibodies against influenza and the coronavirus in a preclinical study.

The company said the NanoFlu/NVX-CoV2373 vaccine elicited robust responses to both influenza A and B and protected against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

“Seasonal influenza and COVID-19 combination vaccines will likely be critical to combating emerging COVID-19 variants,” said Russell Wilson, the executive vice president and NanoFlu general manager of Novavax.

Hamsters that received the combined vaccine had heightened levels of COVID-19 antibodies two weeks after the first immunization, which increased significantly after a second dose, compared to animals that received the COVID-19 vaccine, NVX-CoV2373, alone, the company said.

Novavax said it expects to start clinical studies of the combined vaccine by the end of 2021.

(Reporting by Mrinalika Roy and Amruta Khandekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel)