Moderna Wednesday announced the new clinical data on its bivalent Omicron-containing booster, mRNA-1273.214.
According to the data, the company confirmed that people who received mRNA-1273.214 as a second booster shot had a superior neutralizing antibody response against Omicron BA.1 compared to those with a booster dose of mRNA-1273, the original vaccine, regardless of prior infection.
The company also said the vaccine's performance against Omicron BA.1 was durable, with higher antibody titers sustained through three months.
The mRNA-1273.214 vaccine demonstrated significantly higher neutralizing antibody responses against Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 compared to mRNA-1273 28 days after administration.
Potent responses were also seen against Omicron BA.2.75 28 days after administration, suggesting that the bivalent booster has a broad cross-neutralizing ability against Omicron variants, the company said.
Side effects of mRNA-1273.214 were similar to or less severe than those of either a second or third dose of the original vaccine. The company also confirmed no new safety concerns in the three-month follow-up.
Moderna plans to unveil the complete data set during a breakout session at IDWeek, held in Washington D.C., Friday, and submit the data to peer-reviewed publication and share it with regulators around the world. IDWeek is the joint annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), the HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA), the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS), and the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists (SIDP).
"Our bivalent boosters continue to demonstrate a strong, enduring response to Covid-19 variants of concern," Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said. "Clinical trial data indicate that the superior immune response produced by our bivalent booster has durability for at least three months."
As Covid-19 remains a global threat and a leading cause of death globally, this is an encouraging development, showing that a bivalent booster dose will offer important protection leading into the winter months, Bancel added.
Moderna also plans to present the interim safety and immunogenicity results of mRNA-1273.222, a Covid-19 vaccine targeting Omicron BA.4 and BA.5, later this year.