Nova Rodriguez, medical assistant at UC Berkeley University Health Services, prepares a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine before administering it to fellow employees at the University Health Services at Tang Center near UC Berkeley in Berkeley, California.
Jessica Christian | San Francisco Chronicle | Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images
Moderna said on Monday that work is speeding up on a Covid-19 booster shot to protect against the recently discovered variant 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 that it may be less effective against the latter.
The two-dose vaccine produced an antibody response against multiple variants, including B.1.1.7 and B.1.351, which were first identified in the UK and South Africa, respectively, according to a study by Moderna conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed.
The vaccine caused a weaker immune response to the South African strain, but the antibodies remained above levels expected to protect against the virus, the company said, adding that the findings could indicate “ a potential risk from a previous decrease in immunity to the new B.1.351 strains. “
“Out of an abundance of caution and leveraging the flexibility of our mRNA platform, we are bringing an emerging variant booster candidate against the variant first identified in the Republic of South Africa to the clinic to determine whether it will be more effective to titers against these and possibly future variants, ”said Stephane Bancel, CEO of Moderna in a statement.
Shares of Moderna were up nearly 4% in premarket trading after the announcement.
On Thursday, White House health adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci, 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 indicate that the South African variant can evade the antibodies provided by some coronavirus treatments.
The Food and Drug Administration approved Moderna’s vaccine in December for people 18 and older.
Moderna’s vaccine, like that from Pfizer, uses messenger RNA or mRNA technology. It is a new approach to vaccines that uses genetic material to elicit an immune response. Data from late-stage clinical trials published in November shows that Moderna’s vaccine is over 94% effective in preventing Covid, is safe and appears to ward off serious illness. To achieve maximum effectiveness, the vaccine requires two doses four weeks apart.
This is a story in progress. Please check again for updates.
–CNBCs Noah Higgins-Dunn contributed to this report.