Modern pharmaceutical is ready to start testing a new version of its Covid-19 vaccine that was specifically designed to target an emerging variant of the coronavirus that was first reported in South Africa.
The company announced on Wednesday that it had sent doses of its variant-specific booster dose to the National Institutes of Health for clinical testing. This development is part of Moderna’s efforts to contain the strains of coronavirus that are circulating and to anticipate the virus in constant mutation.
“Moderna is committed to making as many updates to our vaccine as necessary until the pandemic is under control,” Moderna’s CEO, Stéphane Bancel, said in a statement.
There is no evidence yet to suggest that the coronavirus has mutated to make it able to escape existing vaccines, but the prospect remains a serious concern for scientists around the world.
Early studies found that Moderna’s vaccine was less protective against the South African variant, but the company said the observed level of neutralizing antibodies – which can bind to viruses and block their entry into cells – was above protective levels.
Still, preliminary findings have led Moderna to begin adjusting its vaccine to make it more effective against the South African variant and other known strains of the virus, including one that was first reported in the UK and one that is believed to be have arisen in Brazil.
An initial analysis revealed that Moderna’s vaccine is effective against the UK variant, which is already spreading rapidly across the world. A separate vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech has also been found to protect against the UK variant, with that vaccine only slightly less effective against the South African strain, according to a study that has not yet been peer-reviewed.
Cases of the UK variant have been reported in more than 80 countries and in more than half of the states in the USA. The South African strain has been detected in at least 40 countries, including the USA
Moderna has already started testing with a third dose of its vaccine as a booster dose in people who have already received two doses, but now it will start clinical trials to assess the safety and effectiveness of its specific booster dose for the variant. The company will also test a “multivalent booster candidate” that combines its original vaccine with the specific version of the variant in a single dose.
As part of the new tests, Moderna will assess immune responses in people who have already been vaccinated, as well as in participants who are receiving vaccines for the first time.