Moderna Says Clinical Trial Data Shows Updated COVID Vaccine Very Effective Against BA.2.86 Variant

(RTTNews) - Moderna, Inc. (MRNA) announced Wednesday that clinical trial data from its research assay confirm its updated COVID-19 vaccine generates an 8.7-fold increase in neutralizing antibodies in humans against BA.2.86 (Pirola), a variant under monitoring.

The updated vaccine is pending approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the fall 2023 vaccination season.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) indicates that the highly mutated BA.2.86 variant may be more capable of causing infection in people who previously had COVID-19 or were vaccinated with previous vaccines. It added that the updated COVID-19 vaccines may be effective in reducing severe disease and hospitalization.

The emergence of BA.2.86, in addition to the growing prevalence of the EG.5 and FL1.5.1 variants, underscores the need for vaccination with an updated COVID-19 vaccine, which can help reduce severe disease and hospitalizations caused by current circulating strains.

Moderna's clinical trial data around its updated COVID-19 vaccine's effectiveness against BA.2.86 have been shared with regulators and submitted for peer review publication.