The vaccine maker reported new trial data confirming an 8.7 to 11-fold increase in neutralizing antibodies against circulating strains, including the highly watched BA.2.86, EG.5 and FL.1.5.1 variants.
Pictured: Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine/iStock, carmengabriela
Moderna’s latest shot appears effective against the current strains of COVID-19. Wednesday, the vaccine maker reported new trial data confirming an 8.7 to 11-fold increase in neutralizing antibodies against circulating strains, including the highly watched BA.2.86, EG.5 and FL.1.5.1 variants.
The updated mRNA vaccine is pending approval by the FDA for the fall vaccination season. The BA.2.86 variant, Pirola, is a highly mutated strain of COVID-19 with over 30 mutations. It’s been flagged by the CDC as potentially more capable of causing infection in people with previous infection or prior vaccination, according to Moderna.
Due to its high level of mutation, BA.2.86 set off alarm bells when initially discovered, causing mounting concern over another deadly surge. However, more recent preliminary studies have found antibodies from previous infections and vaccinations appear capable of neutralizing the variant.
BA.2.86’s “degree of antibody evasion is quite similar to recently circulating variants,” Benjamin Murrell, who conducted one of the studies at Karolinska Institute in Sweden, told NPR. “It seems unlikely that this will be a seismic shift for the pandemic.”
Despite a sharp drop in revenue for Moderna this year, the biotech is counting on an influx of fall vaccinations. In a second-quarter earnings release, the company upped the anticipated sales for Spikevax—its currently only approved product—to between $6 billion to $8 billion for the year, up from the previous forecast of $5 billion.
Hospitalizations were up 87% over the past month with the EG.5, Eris, variant accounting for 21.5% of all cases. As of last week, BA.2.86 had been found in four U.S. states according to the CDC.
Pfizer and BioNTech’s updated shot that targets only the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant was approved on Tuesday by U.K. drug regulators. It is still pending approval from the FDA. XBB.1.5 was the most common variant found globally earlier this year.
This fall will be the first time the U.S. commercial market will be footing the bill for COVID-19 shots, instead of the government. Updated boosters are anticipated to be available as early as next week, pending FDA approval.
Kate Goodwin is a freelance life science writer based in Des Moines, Iowa. She can be reached at kate.goodwin@biospace.com and on LinkedIn.
