Moderna's Omicron Booster: Manufacturer announces new vaccine plan after further data

Created: 12/21/2021, 10:49 AM

From: Martina Lippl

Moderna-Booster probably protects effectively against Omikron.

© Dinendra Haria / imago

The Covid vaccine from Moderna still provides effective protection against the Omikron variant after three doses.

The manufacturer is also continuing to work on an adapted vaccine.

Cambridge - A booster with the vaccine from Moderna (Spikevax or mRNA-1273) significantly increases the body's immune defense against the new Corona variant Omikron.

The US pharmaceutical company announced on Monday and refers to preliminary data.

According to Moderna boss Stephane Bancel, these are "reassuring".

The booster with a dosage of 50 micrograms increases the omicron-neutralizing antibody level by 37 times.

Researchers examined the antibody level in the laboratory 29 days after a Moderna booster vaccination.

A booster vaccination with 100 micrograms even increases the antibody level by around 83 times compared to the level before the booster vaccination, writes Moderna.

Moderna booster first defense in the fight against Omicron

"In order to react to this highly transferable variant, Moderna will continue to rapidly bring an Omikron-specific booster candidate into clinical testing if this becomes necessary in the future," said Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel in a press release.

Clinical trials with an Omicron-specific vaccine called mRNA-1273.529 are expected to start in early 2022, according to the company.

However, given the speed with which the Omikron variant is expanding, "Moderna's first line of defense against Omikron will be a booster dose of mRNA-1273," the US company announced.

Moderna is apparently sticking to the current Moderna vaccine in view of the data.

For people with an immunodeficiency, 100 micrograms of the Moderna vaccine are approved for boosting. The vaccine is "safe and well tolerated" in this dosage. According to the US manufacturer, the side effects over a period of seven days are comparable to those of the first and second vaccinations. In this basic vaccination course, 100 micrograms are given each time. However, there was a trend towards more frequent side effects after the booster vaccination with 100 micrograms compared to the approved booster dose of 50 micrograms. The company initially left open whether Moderna boosters should be approved for everyone in the future.

As part of the study, the series of 20 booster recipients were examined.

The data has so far been published as a preprint from the MedRxiv server and has yet to be assessed by independent experts.

There is still no data on how long the effect lasts after booster with the Moderna vaccine.

Boosters are an important tool in the fight against Omikron - also in Germany.

Moderna-Booster probably protects against Omikron

The Moderna booster is important, as the latest study data shows.

According to initial laboratory data, two Moderna vaccination doses provide insufficient protection against Omikron.

Last week, Moderna published a study that found that four weeks after the second dose, vaccinated people had significantly fewer neutralizing antibodies against Omikron than against certain earlier variants in their blood.

The vaccine manufacturers Biontech and Pfizer had previously announced that three doses of their product were necessary for adequate protection against the Omikron variant.

The Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) recommends booster booster vaccinations with Moderna and Biontech for everyone over the age of 18.