Moderna Inc. has announced that individuals vaccinated with its COVID-19 Vaccine show resistance against emerging strains of SARS-CoV-2.
It says the vaccine produced neutralized all key emerging variants tested, including B.1.1.7 and B.1.351, which were first identified in the UK and Republic of South Africa, respectively.
The pharmaceutical company says the two-dose regimen of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine is expected to be protective against emerging strains detected to date.
“As we seek to defeat the COVID-19 virus, which has created a worldwide pandemic, we believe it is imperative to be proactive as the virus evolves. We are encouraged by these new data, which reinforce our confidence that the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine should be protective against these newly detected variants,” said Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna. “Out of an abundance of caution and leveraging the flexibility of our mRNA platform, we are advancing an emerging variant booster candidate against the variant first identified in the Republic of South Africa into the clinic to determine if it will be more effective to boost titers against this and potentially future variants.”
It will now test an additional booster dose of its COVID-19 Vaccine (mRNA-1273) to study the ability to further increase neutralizing titers against emerging strains beyond the existing primary vaccination series.
To read the full release from Moderna Inc., please click here.
We just announced that the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine retains neutralizing activity against emerging variants first identified in the U.K. and the Republic of South Africa. Read more: https://t.co/UCCvX0PrKV pic.twitter.com/nCGl3hfhlU
— Moderna (@moderna_tx) January 25, 2021