CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Cambridge-based Moderna on Wednesday announced that its updated COVID-19 vaccine generates a “strong immune response in humans” against BA.2.86, a concerning new omicron variant.
Clinical trial data from recent research confirmed that Moderna’s updated vaccine generates an 8.7-fold increase in neutralizing antibodies in humans against BA.2.86, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“These results demonstrate that our updated COVID-19 vaccine generates a strong human immune response against the highly mutated BA.2.86 variant. Taken together with our previously communicated results showing a similarly effective response against EG.5 and FL.1.5.1 variants, these data confirm that our updated COVID-19 vaccine will continue to be an important tool for protection as we head into the fall vaccination season,” said Stephen Hoge, M.D., President of Moderna. “Moderna will continue to rapidly assess global public health threats and is committed to leveraging our mRNA platform against COVID-19.”
The CDC says the BA.2.86 variant, which is still under monitoring, may be more capable of causing infection in people who previously had COVID-19 or were vaccinated with previous vaccines, noting that updated vaccines may be effective in reducing severe disease and hospitalization.
Public health authorities have warned that the BA.2.86 variant has more than 30 mutations as compared to prior Omicron strains.
Some governments across the world have accelerated COVID-19 vaccination campaigns due to its potential to break through protective immunity generated from previous COVID-19 vaccinations or infections.
BA.2.86, nicknamed Pirola, has been detected in several states across the country.
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