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Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE have started a study testing in people whether the companies’ COVID-19 vaccine can provide protection against emerging strains of the coronavirus.
The companies said Thursday they had started the small study to see if a third dose of their licensed COVID-19 vaccine would increase its effectiveness against new variants, such as the strain first identified in South Africa.
The approach differs from that of Moderna Inc., which said on Wednesday it had made a new vaccine targeting the strain found in South Africa and shipped doses to U.S. government researchers for human testing.
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Pfizer and BioNTech said they are also in discussions with U.S., European and other health regulators to study a modified version of their vaccine that researchers have designed to protect against the variant found in South Africa.
“We are taking several steps to act decisively and be prepared in the event that a strain becomes resistant to the protection offered by the vaccine,” Pfizer chief executive Albert Bourla said in a statement.
The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines appeared to generate a weaker immune response to the strain identified in South Africa, as did other vaccines in late stages of development.
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Companies such as Johnson & Johnson are also working on new vaccines.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said this week that it plans to rapidly assess the variant booster vaccines and would not require large efficacy trials for authorization.
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The two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was first used in the United States in December after a large global study of 44,000 people found the vaccine to be 95% safe and effective in protecting against symptomatic COVID-19.
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