The modern biotechnology company, responsible for the development of one of the vaccines used in the United States, announced preliminary figures on the effects of booster doses of its immunizing agent against the Ômicron variant on Monday (20).
“The currently authorized booster of 50 µg of mRNA-1273 increased levels of neutralizing antibodies against Ômicron by approximately 37-fold compared to preboost levels,” the company said.
Protection levels can rise considerably if the dose is doubled. “A 100 µg dose of mRNA-1273 increased neutralizing antibody levels approximately 83-fold compared to preboost levels,” Moderna said in a statement.
Neutralizing antibodies to Ômicron were evaluated in a pseudovirus neutralizing titer (ID50) (PsVNT) assay conducted in laboratories established by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Vaccine Research Center at Duke University Medical Center.
All groups had low levels of neutralizing antibodies in the Omicron PsVNT assay prior to boosting.
Moderna also announced that it will continue to develop a vaccine specific for the Ômicron variant and that it expects to advance clinical trials in early 2022.
“To respond to this highly transmissible variant, Moderna will continue to rapidly advance an Ômicron-specific booster candidate for clinical trials, should the need arise in the future,” said Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna.
“We will also continue to generate and share data in our reinforcement strategies with public health authorities to help them make evidence-based decisions about the best vaccination strategies against SARS-CoV-2”, adds the executive.
Reference: CNN Brasil
