A nurse fills a syringe with the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine.
Fred Tanneau | Af | Getty Images
on Tuesday, he said that a new version of the Covid-19 vaccine caused stronger immune response against the virus than the present vaccine in a late-stage trial.
The results come as Moderna competes with a rival for more market share Covid vaccine market and is in search of to diversify its revenue streams after the world saw a decline in demand for Covid products last yr. Moderna’s current Covid vaccine, often called Spikevax, is its only product in the marketplace.
The biotech company’s new shot could offer an extended shelf life and easier storage than the Covid vaccine.
Moderna’s new shot is designed to last more within the refrigerator. This could make it easier to distribute the vaccine all over the world, especially in developing countries that won’t have the power to freeze. The company will achieve this by shortening the length of the vaccine’s mRNA strands, Moderna previously told CNBC.
The new shot can be a “critical ingredient” of the Moderna combination vaccine targeting Covid and flu, the corporate said in an announcement. Both Moderna and Pfizer said the convenience of receiving protection against two viruses directly could encourage more people to get vaccinated against Covid.
The Phase 3 trial involved roughly 11,400 people aged 12 and older within the US, UK and Canada.
Moderna’s new shot notably induced a stronger immune response against omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 and the unique strain of the virus than the corporate’s bivalent vaccine targeting those variants. The advantages were seen “most acutely” in patients over 65, who even have the very best risk of severe disease from Covid.
The commonest unwanted side effects were pain on the injection site, headache, fatigue, muscle aches and chills, in line with the corporate’s release. Overall, Moderna said the security profile was much like that of the approved Spikevax vaccine.
An in depth evaluation of the late-stage trial results will likely be presented Wednesday at a vaccine event hosted by Moderna for investors. The company will showcase other parts of its pipeline throughout the event.
Moderna is working to develop vaccines against flu, cancer and other diseases. The company’s vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus is predicted to receive approval from the Food and Drug Administration in May.
Moderna also said it plans to bring as much as 15 products to market over the subsequent five years – a goal it first outlined during its annual research and development day in September.
