Moderna announced that the preliminary clinical trial data of its updated Covid-19 vaccine has demonstrated a significant boost in neutralising antibodies against EG.5 and FL.1.5.1 variants of Covid.
The data has confirmed the updated Covid-19 vaccine for the fall 2023 vaccination season.
According to Moderna, these findings imply that the updated Covid-19 vaccine can successfully combat the Covid-19 variations that are anticipated to circulate throughout the upcoming vaccination season.
Recently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has classified the EG.5 or Eris strain as a variant of interest.
Moderna president Stephen Hoge said: “These new results, which show that our updated COVID-19 vaccine generates a robust immune response against the rapidly spreading EG.5 and FL 1.5.1 strains and reflects our updated vaccine’s ability to address emerging Covid-19 threats.
“Moderna is committed to leveraging our mRNA technology to provide health security around the world.”
The American pharmaceutical major previously provided the sole clinical trial results proving that its updated Covid-19 vaccine showed significant human immune responses across the primary circulating XBB strains in addition to showing an immune response against the EG.5 and FL 1.5.1 strains.
Moderna has now verified an antibody response against current strains of concern with the help of this new trial results.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the European Medicines Agency (EMA), and other international regulators have received Moderna’s updated Covid-19 vaccine.
The company has sufficient worldwide supply for the autumn immunisation season, pending approval.
In a separate development, Pfizer has announced that its updated Covid-19 shot has shown neutralising activity against the Eris subvariant in a trial completed on mice.
Pfizer, along with its German partner BioNTech has joined the list of companies that include Moderna and Novavax, who have created versions of their shots for the XBB.1.5 subvariant.
Last month, Moderna and Merck started the Phase 3 V940-001 clinical trial of V940 in combination with KEYTRUDA for adjuvant treatment of patients with resected high-risk melanoma.
