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Vials of the drug Spikevax from Moderna
Photo: Jochen Eckel / IMAGO
Pharmaceutical companies have been working for months on adapting their vaccines against the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
The US company Moderna has now reported preliminary study data for a Covid 19 vaccine candidate adapted to the highly contagious variant.
Accordingly, the agent significantly increases the number of antibodies directed against the omicron.
According to the company, the customized booster, called mRNA-1273.214, is a combination of the original Moderna drug Spikevax and a vaccine candidate directed against the omicron variant.
Immune protection also against other variants
According to the company, 814 adults who had already received three doses of Moderna's original corona vaccine Spikevax took part in the study.
About half got a fourth dose of Spikevax, the second group got a dose of the new so-called bivalent vaccine.
The booster was given at a dose of 50 micrograms - half the original dose for the primary series, but the same as the Spikevax booster dose.
On average, the 437 study participants who received the new bivalent vaccine had a higher level of antibodies against the omicron variant than the comparison group.
Their immune protection against the earlier corona variants was also slightly higher than in the group that had received a fourth dose of Spikevax.
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"We expect mRNA-1273.214 to provide more durable protection against variants of concern, making it our prime candidate for a fall 2022 booster shot," Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said on Wednesday.
According to Bancel, the company wants to submit the data to the regulatory authorities in the coming weeks and is therefore hoping that the vaccine will be available as early as late summer.
The Mainz-based pharmaceutical company Biontech is also working on an omicron vaccine.
Although Biontech has not yet published any data, it is hoping for approval by the autumn.
"Depending on the decision of the authorities, an adapted vaccine could be approved in August, September or autumn," CEO Uğur Şahin said at the company's annual general meeting last week.
mar/Reuters/AFP
