Moderna said Monday that both of its bivalent Omicron-targeting booster candidates (mRNA-1273.214 and mRNA-1273.222) trigger a superior antibody response compared to a booster dose of mRNA-1273, the Company’s prototype vaccine, against Omicron (BA.4/BA.5) in Phase 2/3 clinical trials. Both bivalent vaccines also met non-inferiority immunogenicity criteria to the original strain.
“We are pleased to see that both of our bivalent booster vaccine candidates offer superior protection against Omicron BA.4/BA.5 variants compared to our original booster, which is encouraging given COVID-19 remains a leading cause of hospitalization and death globally. In addition, the superior response against Omicron persisted for at least three months after the mRNA-1273.214 booster,” said Stéphane Bancel, Moderna’s Chief Executive Officer. “Our bivalent boosters also show, in research assays, neutralizing activity against BQ.1.1, an increasingly dominant emerging variant, confirming that updated vaccines have the potential to offer protection as the virus continues to evolve rapidly to escape our immunity.”