Moderna says its first bivalent booster vaccine outperformed current COVID-19 booster
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Announcing data for its first bivalent booster vaccine candidate, Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) said on Tuesday that the vaccine named mRNA-1273.211 outperformed its currently authorized booster shot mRNA-1273.
mRNA-1273.211 includes mutations found in the Beta variant, some of which were found in the recently detected Omicron variant.
At the 1 month and 6 months, the increase in the neutralizing antibody titers against Omicron following a 50 Âµg booster dose of mRNA-1273.211 stood at 2.20-fold (95% CI: 1.74, 2.79) and 2.15-fold (95% CI: 1.66, 2.78) compared to the mRNA-1273 booster dose, respectively.
The experimental vaccine candidate was found to be well tolerated in 300 subjects who received the 50 Âµg dose and 595 participants who received the 100 Âµg dose.
Moderna (MRNA) is currently advancing a Phase 2/3 clinical study for an updated bivalent booster called mRNA-1273.214, which has more Omicron-specific mutations. The initial results from the trial are expected in 2Q 2022.
mRNA-1273.214, which âcombines the currently authorized Moderna COVID-19 booster with our Omicron-specific booster candidate, remains our lead candidate for the fall 2022 Northern Hemisphere boosterâ,â Chief Executive StÃ©phane Bancel said.
Read: On Tuesday, the rival COVID-19 vaccine maker, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), suspended the sales guidance for its COVID-19 vaccine citing a supply glut and demand uncertainty.