RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Moderna said Wednesday, February 24th, that it has completed the initial batch of doses of a new covid-19 vaccine designed to better protect against the new South African variant, which has shown some resistance to the company’s original immunizer.
The company said it has sent the new vaccines to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to conduct the first human trial, which could begin within weeks.
The new vaccine is designed to better match the virus variant first detected in South Africa, but which has since spread to other areas. Moderna may be the first manufacturer to complete the lab work of designing a vaccine targeting these variants, which began spreading rapidly last year.
Other companies, including Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, have said they are upgrading their immunizers or working on boosters that better match variants. Earlier vaccines don’t seem to perform as well against the strain identified in South Africa, and new variants may also emerge.
People who have been administered two doses of the original Moderna vaccine will be given the new shot, and researchers will monitor the safety of the immunizer and its ability to induce an immune response to the new variant. Should the trial results be positive, Moderna will seek US regulatory clearance for the new vaccine, which could happen in the third quarter, CEO Stephane Bancel said in an interview. “Moderna will continue to chase these variants until the pandemic is fully under control,” Bancel said.
After the announcement, Moderna’s shares surged on the New York futures markets, and at 7:44 PM (EST) they were up 5.32%.
Source: Noticias ao Minuto