Moderna announces positive results for Omicron vaccine / Photo: Joseph Prezioso - AFP
NYSE - LSE
| RYCEF | -1.57% | 9.55 | $ | |
| BCC | -1.03% | 92.91 | $ | |
| RIO | 0.48% | 57.535 | $ | |
| RBGPF | 0.22% | 63.59 | $ | |
| CMSC | 0.68% | 21.95 | $ | |
| SCS | -0.56% | 9.895 | $ | |
| JRI | 0.02% | 12.273 | $ | |
| CMSD | 0.59% | 22.01 | $ | |
| GSK | 0.25% | 35.77 | $ | |
| NGG | 1.5% | 72.06 | $ | |
| AZN | -0.14% | 67.775 | $ | |
| BP | 2.8% | 27.995 | $ | |
| VOD | 1.67% | 9.265 | $ | |
| BCE | 2.17% | 21.711 | $ | |
| RELX | 0.52% | 51.78 | $ | |
| BTI | -0.08% | 42.285 | $ |
Moderna announces positive results for Omicron vaccine
US biotech company Moderna on Wednesday announced positive results for a new vaccine that targets both the original Covid strain and Omicron.
This so-called "bivalent" vaccine was tested in a trial of more 850 adults, who had all received their first three doses of Moderna's original Spikevax vaccine.
Around half the group then received a fourth dose of Spikevax, while the rest received the bivalent vaccine.
Those who received the bivalent vaccine had significantly higher levels of neutralizing antibodies -- Y-shaped immune system proteins that block the virus -- against Omicron.
On average, these levels were around 75 percent higher in the group who got the bivalent vaccine as a fourth dose compared to those who got the original vaccine as a fourth dose. They also received slightly superior protection to the ancestral strain of Covid compared to Spikevax.
"We are thrilled," said Stephane Bancel, CEO of Moderna in a statement, adding he anticipated this vaccine would be the company's lead candidate for authorization as a booster this fall.
"We want to be as ready as early as August for shipping," he told investors in a call.
Stephen Hoge, the company's president, did concede that antibody levels would be lower against Omicron's sub variants that are now in circulation, but said he believed it was still a superior booster than repeating Spikevax.
The company doesn't yet have data on durability -- how the new vaccine booster will fare three months and six months out.
A panel of Food and Drug Administration experts will meet June 28 to discuss considerations and strategies for boosters in fall and winter.
M.Vecchiarelli--LDdC
