AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
IND
Source: joel bubble ben, Shutterstock
Summary
- Moderna said that it has been able to produce booster shots particularly for the South African variant.
- The shots have been shipped to the National Institutes of Health in the US for Phase 1 clinical trials.
US biotechnology company Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) announced on Wednesday that it has developed an advanced Covid-19 vaccine, mRNA-1273.351 to fight against the South African variant, B.1.351 that had initially emerged in South Africa.
The jabs of the new, modified vaccine for the SARS-CoV-2 variant have been shipped to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where it will undergo the Phase 1 clinical trial led and funded by the NIH’s arm National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
Copyright © 2021 Kalkine Media Pty Ltd.
In the first phase of the clinical trial, which will be conducted by the NIAID after receiving safe-to-proceed authorisation from the US Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), it will be determined whether the new jab is capable of boosting immunity against the concerned variant. Additional information regarding the study will be provided by NIAID after it commences with the trial.
Moderna Inc CEO Stéphane Bancel said that the company is looking forward to starting with the clinical study of the company’s variant booster. He appreciated the NIH’s efforts to continue with the collaboration to fight with the crisis.
Bancel said that the company remains vigilant and proactive regarding the new emerging variants of the Covid-19 causing virus. He stated that by leveraging the flexibility of the mRNA platform, Moderna is in process to test the new jab.
Studies have shown that the current two-dose regimen of Moderna fails to produce a stronger immune response against the South Africa strain, despite the antibodies in patients remaining at higher levels to be protective against the virus, said the company.
The initial Moderna's vaccine known as mRNA-1273 was developed in partnership with the NIH by using part messenger RNA, or mRNA. The results of the trial data published by the company had indicated that the vaccine was 94.5 per cent effective at protecting people against the Covid-19 disease.
Related Read: Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine impresses, demonstrates 94.5% efficacy
Recent Developments
- The pharma company has provided a strategic update for addressing the concerned coronavirus variants. Moderna has come up with two strategies that it will be pursuing, subject to US FDA’s review. They are:
- The company will be evaluating the modified booster doses of vaccine by adopting three approaches, so as to increase neutralising immunity against the South African variant.
These three approaches will include: a variant-specific booster candidate, mRNA-1273.351; a multivalent booster candidate, mRNA-1273.211; and a third dose of mRNA-1273.
- The second strategy of Moderna involves the evaluation of mRNA-1273.351 and mRNA-1273.211 as a primary vaccination series for seronegative candidates.
- Moderna is planning to evaluate immunogenicity and safety in participants who have already received the mRNA-1273 vaccine as well as those who have not yet received a Covid-19 vaccine along with candidates taking part in the clinical study in line with FDA guidelines.
- The company will be conducting its own clinical studies to support booster vaccine’s regulatory filings.
- Moderna has also announced that it will be raising the bar of its global coronavirus vaccine production goal by 100 million doses for 2021, which means a total of 700 million Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine would be manufactured.
Booster dose
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has revealed that around 1,881 cases of the UK variant, B.1.1.7 have been identified in the US. In addition to this, it has also detected few cases of the South Africa variant, B.1.351 strain and that of the Brazil variant, P.1, in the US.
