Moderna tests new booster shots against COVID-19 variants

The first participants in Moderna’s trial evaluating new variant-specific boosters have been vaccinated, the company said. The new vaccines target a variant of the coronavirus detected for the first time in South Africa, which has demonstrated reduced vaccine efficacy.

Moderna is testing three variants of a booster among 60 vaccinated participants. First, it will study the variant-specific vaccine, which will be given at a lower dose than its original vaccine (20 micrograms), and will require evaluation and an approved amendment to the initial authorization for emergency use. the FDA prior to its distribution to the public, if the trial results are promising.

Second, Moderna said it plans to study a combination of the original vaccine and the variant-specific vaccine in one shot at 50 micrograms. Finally, he will study the effects of the booster variant at a higher dose, 50 micrograms.

In a recent published study, the biotech giant said its existing COVID-19 injection had a six-fold reduction in vaccine-induced antibodies to the B.1.351 variant. Despite this reduction, however, “neutralizing titer levels with B.1.351 remain above levels that should be protective,” the company said.

“As a precaution, Moderna is pursuing a clinical development strategy against these emerging variants,” according to the company’s statement released Wednesday.

Meanwhile, an institute under the National Institutes of Health will organize a trial to test the new modified vaccines as primary vaccines in unvaccinated people and as a booster in previously vaccinated people. Moderna said the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease will begin this study when given the green light from the FDA.