UC Berkeley University Health Services Medical Assistant Nova Rodriguez prepares a dose of Modner COVID-19 vaccine before administering it to fellow University Health Services staff at the Tang Center near UC Berkeley in Berkeley, California .
Jessica Christian | San Francisco Chronicle | Hearst Newspaper via Getty Images
Moderna said on Monday it was speeding up work on a Covid-19 booster shot to protect against the recent discovery in South Africa.
The researchers said the current coronavirus vaccine appears to work against the two highly transmissible strains found in the UK and South Africa, although it appears to be less effective against the latter.
The two-dose vaccine elicited an antibody response to several variants, including B.1.1.7 and B.1.351, first identified in the United Kingdom and South Africa, respectively, according to a Modern study conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed.
The vaccine generated a weaker immune response against the South African strain, but the antibodies remained above the levels that are expected to be protective against the virus, the company said. The findings may indicate a possible risk of earlier decline in immunity against B.1.351 strains. “
“Out of an abundance of caution and leveraging the flexibility of our mRNA platform, we are promoting an emerging variant booster candidate against the variant first identified in the Republic of South Africa in the clinic to determine whether it will be more effective in boosting titers against these and possibly future variants, “Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said in a statement.
Following the announcement, shares in Moderna rose by almost 4%.
White House health adviser Anthony Fauci said Thursday that new data shows that the Covid-19 vaccines currently on the market may not be as effective at protecting against new, more contagious strains of the coronavirus. Some early findings published in the preprint server bioRxiv suggest that the South African variant may evade the antibodies provided by some coronavirus treatments.
In December, the Food and Drug Administration approved Moderna’s vaccine for people 18 years and older.
Modern vaccines, such as Pfizer, use messenger RNA, or mRNA, technology. This is a new approach to vaccines that use genetic material to elicit an immune response. Data from the late-stage clinical trials published in November show that Moderna’s vaccine is more than 94% effective in preventing Covid, safe and preventing serious diseases. To achieve maximum effectiveness, the vaccine requires two doses that are taken four weeks apart.
This is an evolving story. Check back for updates.
–CNBC’s Noah Higgins-Dunn contributed to this report.