New COVID shots effective against latest variant, Pfizer and Moderna say
Global News
Pfizer said its updated COVID vaccine elicited a strong antibody response against BA.2.86 in a preclinical study. Moderna said its new shot was also effective against the variant.
Pfizer on Wednesday said the updated Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine expected to be used this fall elicited a strong antibody response against the highly mutated BA.2.86 subvariant of the coronavirus in a preclinical study in mice.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has previously indicated that BA.2.86 may be more capable of causing infection in people who previously had COVID or were vaccinated with previous shots.
Moderna said earlier on Wednesday that clinical trial data in humans showed its updated shot will likely be effective against the BA.2.86 variant.
The company said its shot generated an 8.7-fold increase in neutralizing antibodies in humans against BA.2.86, which is being tracked by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“We think this is news people will want to hear as they prepare to go out and get their fall boosters,” Moderna head of infectious diseases Jacqueline Miller said in an interview, adding that the data should also help reassure regulators.
Moderna shares were down more than 2% in early afternoon trading.
TD Cowen analyst Tyler Van Buren said Wednesday’s news was unlikely to raise the share price because people already assume the mRNA vaccines will continue to be effective against new COVID variants as they crop up.
“This was not an anticipated catalyst that people were waiting for,” he said, adding that Moderna continues to be a favorite target of Wall Street short sellers who bet that shares will fall.
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