Moderna Inc (MRNA)

[axelvento]

The green flag: A booster that works
Moderna recently reported that its booster candidate offers "superior" performance against the omicron variant. The vaccine lifted a measure of neutralizing antibody activity eight-fold one month after vaccination, trial data show. This means the booster candidate handles the omicron variant even better than Moderna's coronavirus vaccine. And the candidate also protects against the original coronavirus. Moderna said this potential product is effective against omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 too.


The biotech company is submitting the data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for consideration. An FDA advisory committee is set to meet on June 28 to discuss whether it's necessary to update current vaccines for fall to target new strains -- or just stick with those original vaccines. Strong data from Moderna could weigh in favor of an update. This would be excellent news for the company. That's because Moderna appears to be closest to the finish line compared to rivals. Pfizer, too, is working on an updated shot -- but the big pharma player hasn't yet released data.