Moderna announces positive results for Omicron vaccine

US biotech company Moderna has announced positive results for a new vaccine that targets both the original COVID strain and Omicron and sees the shot as its lead candidate for a booster this fall.

The so-called “bivalent” vaccine was tested in a trial of 814 adults and shown to produce 1.75 times more Omicron-specific neutralizing antibodies, which have the power to prevent infection, compared to Moderna’s original Spikevax vaccine.

All of the participants previously received three doses of Spikevax, and then slightly more than half went on to get a fourth dose of the bivalent shot while the rest got another dose of Spikevax.

The group that got the new shot also received slightly superior protection to the ancestral strain of COVID compared to Spikevax, though the original COVID has long since disappeared from circulation.

According to Stephane Bancel, CEO of Moderna in a statement, “We are thrilled, this vaccine would be the company’s lead candidate for authorization as a booster this fall.

“We want to be as ready as early as August for shipping,” he added.

Moderna did concede that antibody levels would be lower against Omicron’s sub-variants that are now in circulation but said it believed it was still a superior booster over repeating Spikevax.

It also doesn’t yet have data on durability – how the new vaccine booster will fare three months and six months out.

The problem of an ever-evolving virus poses a challenge for health authorities. A panel of Food and Drug Administration experts will meet on June 28 to discuss considerations and strategies for boosters in the fall and winter.