WASHINGTON (Washington Insider Magazine) – Moderna reported Wednesday that it has started treating patients in a clinical trial assessing its omicron-specific Covid-19 vaccination booster.
According to NBC News, the Phase 2 trial will analyze the vaccine’s safety, acceptability, and immune response in adults. This will be Moderna’s very first trial of the omicron-specific vaccination in humans.
Moderna’s current booster shot still provides immunity from the new variant, particularly against severe sickness, according to lab data and research published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
However, fresh evidence presented Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine shows that six months following the booster, the antibodies’ ability to neutralize the omicron variation has dropped by around sixfold compared to the initial strain.
The news comes only a day after BioNTech and Pfizer announced the initiation of a clinical study for their own customized vaccination that targets the omicron type.
According to the CDC, the highly contagious variety now accounts for nearly all new infections of Covid in the United States.
People who received 2 doses of Moderna’s vaccine at least 6 months ago, and people who had two doses and as well as a booster shot at least 3 months ago, are both eligible to participate in the clinical trial.
The company intends to enroll about 300 people in each phase of the study, which will take place at up to 24 locations across the United States.
Moderna’s trial, according to Bill Hanage, an epidemiologist at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, will allow researchers to determine how beneficial it is to teach the immune system to target the new variety. According to Hanage, the drop in omicron neutralizing antibodies that they report six months after booster is enough to enable the virus to establish an infection, but the antibody reaction is still robust enough in the vast majority of people to handle it rather effectively.
Moderna has previously stated that it is in talks with public health officials regarding the possibility of releasing an omicron-based booster in the fall.
