Moderna Announces Clinical Trial for 3rd Vaccine Developed Against Omicron Variant

COVID-19 vaccine maker Moderna recently announced its first participant in a clinical trial has already been given its Omicron-specific vaccine.

The report, according to The Verge, comes a few days "after Pfizer/BioNTech launched a trial of its" COVID-19 vaccine that targets the fast-transmitting strain.

The announcement coincided with the release of data that shows two-dose series of the original vaccine of Moderna struggled to block the Omicron strain, with mutations that help in the dodge of such antibodies.

Essentially, a booster shot was able to restore much of its ability to counteract the virus, and while such protection weakened over time, it remained for at least six months.

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(Photo : GEORGES GOBET/AFP via Getty Images)
Health worker prepares a dose of Moderna Covid-19 booster vaccine at the Toulouse's exhibition center used as a vaccination center in Toulouse, on December 9, 2021.

Moderna's Plan to Move Forward with the 'Omicron Booster'

In a statement, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said that this newest strain of the virus is enough of a threat that the firm is planning to move forward with the variant booster.

At present, the firm is testing its Omicron booster in one group of individuals who were already given a two-dose series of the original COVID-19 vaccine only, and another group who had a two-dose series, followed by a booster jab of the original vaccine.

As indicated in the statement, around 300 participants in each group will participate in the clinical trial. Bancel also said early this month that the company could have data on the Omicron booster ready in two months.

Moderna's statement specified that at seven months after the second dose and before the third booster dose, neutralization of the Omicron variant was detected in 55 percent of the participants.

Essentially, an mRNA-1273 booster dose at 50 µg dose level increased the Variant GMTs to 20-fold higher than peak Omicron titers after the second dose.

At six months from the booster, the third dose, Omicron neutralization had dropped about 6.3-fold from peak titers on the 20th day after the booster, although it stayed noticeable in all participants.

Neutralizing titers from against the Omicron strain dropped more rapidly following the booster shot, than for the wild-type virus which dropped 2.3-fold over the same course.

Essentiality of the Booster Shot in Combating Omicron

A Reuters report said, three studies, led by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have revealed, "the third dose of an mRNA vaccine," including those from Pfizer and Moderna, is key to combating the Omicron variant.

To date, some countries have already started to offer additional booster shots, although recent research from Israel revealed that while the fourth jab of an mRNA vaccine boosted antibodies, the level was not high enough to stop an infection caused by Omicron.

According to Bancel, the best-case scenario was to combine COVID-19 and flu vaccines, which would be available by the fall of next year, at least in some nations.

The company CEO explained, their goal is to be able to have a one-shot annual booster so as not to have compliance issues where people wouldn't want to receive two or three jabs each winter.

As earlier mentioned, a lot of countries already offer a third dose of COVID-19 jab to their citizens, particularly older individuals, and those who are immunocompromised.

Report about the Omicron booster is shown on Yahoo Finance's YouTube video below:

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