Designed for autumn as a third dose, it doubles the antibodies produced, even against Omicron. Its composition, however, is based on two disappeared strains (Wuhan and the Beta variant). The pharmaceutical company is updating another candidate based on Omicron
Moderna has published data on a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate updatedwhich would propose how booster (third dose) for autumn next one.
Double the antibodies even against Omicron
They are the results of the Phase 2/3 study that tested the vaccine called bivalent because it contains equal amounts of vaccine from two different strains of the virus. The booster, known by the code number mRNA-1273.211it contains, in fact, equal quantities of ancestral SARS-CoV-2 mRNA (coming from the Wuhan strain) and spike proteins of beta variant
of SARS-CoV-2, originally emerged in South Africa, but currently no longer circulating (it was one of those with greater evasion capacity than antibodies). For each variant of concern tested with this product, including Omicron, the vaccine candidate did develop neutralizing antibody levels (for the booster 50 micrograms dose) that showed up about double of those developed of the modern booster dose currently in use. This superiority continued six months later administration, also for the Omicron variant. The booster dose of 50 g of mRNA-1273.211 was generally well tolerated in the 300 study participants and also in the 595 participants who received the 100 g dose of mRNA-1273.211 (895 participants in total).
The limits of the study and the candidate against Omicron
Despite the claims of the pharmaceutical company, it is impossible to say whether the antibody booster provided by the mRNA-1273.211 vaccine prevent in the real world severe infections or illnesses better than the existing booster. The study is too limited, moreover the level of antibodies between the two vaccines (updated and existing) does not differ much.
Moderna is also conducting another study on a updated booster based on the Omicron strain, called mRNA-1273.214. Results are expected in the second quarter and given that higher standards of verification are expected, it should provide clearer data. Stphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna said: Our latest bivalent booster candidate, mRNA-1273.214, which combines the currently licensed Moderna booster with our Omicron-specific booster candidate, remains our top choice for the Northern Hemisphere in the autumn 2022.
It is not known whether (and how) these vaccines will be useful on a population (like the Italian one) that has already received mostly the third doses for months.
April 22, 2022 (change April 22, 2022 | 15:13)
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