The first participants in Moderna’s trial to assess new variant-specific booster shots have been vaccinated, the company announced. The new vaccines target a coronavirus variant first discovered in South Africa that has shown reduced vaccine efficacy.
Moderna is testing three variants of a booster among 60 vaccinated participants. First, it will study the variant-specific shot, which will be given at a lower dose than the original vaccine (20 micrograms), and will require an evaluation and an approved change to the original FDA emergency use authorization before it is released to the public , the results of the trial should prove promising.
Second, Moderna said it plans to study a combination of the original vaccine and the variant-specific vaccine in a single 50-microgram shot. Finally, it will study the effects of the booster shot variant at a higher dose, 50 micrograms.
In a recently published study, the biotech giant said its existing COVID-19 shot was found to have a six-fold reduction in vaccination-induced antibodies against the B.1.351 variant. Despite this reduction, however, “neutralizing titer levels with B.1.351 remain above levels expected to be protective,” the company said.
“With caution, Moderna is pursuing a clinical development strategy against these emerging variants,” said the company statement posted Wednesday.
Meanwhile, an institute under the National Institutes of Health will conduct a trial to test the new modified vaccines as primary injections in unvaccinated individuals and as a booster shot in those previously vaccinated. Moderna said the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease will start this study when it gets the go-ahead from the FDA.