It is possible that two points of Modernsay (NASDAQ: MRNA) recently authorized coronavirus vaccine will be sufficient to provide long-term protection against the global health scourge. Stephane Bancel, the company’s CEO, said at an event in the healthcare industry on Thursday that this was a likely possibility due to the durability of the antibodies that the vaccine delivers.
“The decay of the antibodies generated by the vaccine in humans is going down very slowly,” he said in comments quoted by Reuters. “We believe there may be some years of protection.” He did not offer a more specific time forecast.
He added that, “The nightmare scenario described in the media in the spring with a vaccine that only works for a month or two is, in my opinion, out the window.”
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If Bancel’s estimate is accurate, it will make mRNA-1273 – and maybe Pfizer and BioNTech‘s BNT162b2, plus other vaccines that use similar messenger RNA technology – a much more powerful weapon against the coronavirus than previously thought. The need for a strong and effective vaccine is now particularly acute, as cases and deaths continue to increase worldwide and that a new strain looks even more contagious.
Bancel also commented on the strain, claiming that Moderna was about to prove that mRNA-1273 could also be effective for it. Further details were not provided.
Currently, mRNA-1273 is approved for use in the US, UK, Israel and throughout the European Union with 27 members. It is almost certain that more consent will be followed by major healthcare regulators, keeping Moderna at the forefront of the coronavirus vaccine “race”.
Despite Bancel’s very hopeful statements, Moderna did not have a good day on Thursday. It fell by 1% compared to the profit of almost 1.5% S&P 500 index.