Updated COVID-19 Vaccine Generates Strong Immune Response Against Variant

Moderna, Inc. today announced that clinical trial data from its research assay confirm its updated COVID-19 vaccine, which is pending approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, generates an 8.7-fold increase in neutralizing antibodies in humans against BA.2.86 (Pirola), a new variant under monitoring.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control 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.

"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, in a press release on September 6, 2023.

Public health authorities are vigilantly monitoring the BA.2.86 variant, a highly mutated strain of the SARS-CoV-2 betacoronavirus with over 30 mutations as compared to prior Omicron 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.