Updated Covid vaccine effective against new strain - Moderna

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Moderna’s updated Covid-19 vaccine has shown to be effective against a potentially dangerous new variant, the US biotech said on Wednesday.

Moderna said clinical trial data had shown that its updated Covid vaccine - which is pending regulatory approval in the US for the coming autumn vaccination season - demonstrated an 8.7 to 11-fold increase in neutralising antibodies against circulating variants including BA.2.86.

There are concerns that the new, highly-mutated BA.2.86 variant could be more likely to cause infections, even in people who have already had Covid or are already vaccinated.

Stephen Hoge, Moderna president, said: "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."

Moderna said it had shared the clinical trial data with regulators as well as submitting it for peer review.