COVID shots should be updated for XBB variants, FDA says
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Ahead of an advisory committee meeting this week, the FDA staffers said on Monday that COVID vaccines for a fall immunization drive should target currently dominant XBB variants of Omicron.
The FDA shared its views in briefing documents as its Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) is set to meet on Thursday to recommend which strains of COVID should be selected to update the current generation of vaccines.
During the fall 2022 vaccination campaign, leading vaccine makers Pfizer (NYSE:PFE)/ BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) and Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) launched bivalent vaccines as booster doses targeting the original strain of the virus as well as BA.4/BA.5 Omicron strains.
However, for the upcoming immunization drive, FDA backs a monovalent shot targeting XBB.1.5, XBB.1.16, or XBB.2.3 strains of Omicron.
âThe current trajectory of virus evolution suggests that XBB.1.16 could be dominant by fall 2023 but that XBB.2.3 and other XBB sublineages could also continue to increase in proportion as the virus evolves,â the FDA scientists wrote.
In May, an advisory panel of the World Health Organization (WHO) also recommended developers use either XBB.1.5 or XBB.1.16 to reformulate their vaccines to enhance protection.
Recently the FDA revoked authorization for the COVID shot developed by Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), leaving Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) as the only non-MRNA-focused vaccine developer against COVID.
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