COVID-19: Moderna announces positive results for Omicron vaccine

Moderna on Wednesday (June 8) announced that a new vaccine targetting both the original coronavirus (COVID-19) and highly transmissible Omicron strains produced a better immune response. In an official statement, the US-based biotechnology company announced the results of its new clinical data Omicron-containing bivalent Covid booster candidate, mRNA-1273.214, containing mRNA-1273 (Spikevax) and a vaccine candidate targeting the Omicron variant.

The Omicron variant is a variant of SARS-CoV-2. It caused news waves of Covid cases across the globe. The deadly variant of concern was first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) from South Africa on 24 November 2021.

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The official statement noted that the booster dose met all pre-specified endpoints against the Omicron variant one month after administration when compared to the original mRNA-1273 vaccine. The booster dose also produced a superior neutralizing antibody response.

Stéphane Bancel, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Moderna, said, "We are thrilled to share the preliminary data analysis on mRNA-1273.214, which is the second demonstration of superiority of our bivalent booster platform against variants of concern and represents an innovation in the fight against COVID."

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The vaccine was given as a fourth dose in a trial that enrolled more than 800 people. It is said that the dose raised virus-neutralizing antibodies by eight-fold against Omicron.

During the trial, all of the participants previously received three doses of Spikevax. The company said that slightly more than half of the participants went on to get a fourth dose of the bivalent shot while the rest got another dose of Spikevax.

Notably, tn the study, which did not measure vaccine effectiveness, the booster, the vaccine generated greater antibodies against the Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta variants compared to the original shot.

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