Continue to Site

Drug Discovery and Development

Moderna shares R&D updates at third annual vaccines day

By |

ModernaModerna (Nasdaq:MRNA) recently announced that an investigational version of its COVID-19 vaccine for potential use in children 6 months to 6 years met its primary endpoint in a Phase 2/3 study. Two doses of the vaccine were 43.7% effective at preventing infection during the omicron wave in children aged 6 months to 2 years old. Efficacy fell to 37.5% in children aged 2 to 6.

As part of a series of Vaccine Day–themed announcements, the company said it is making progress with global regulatory submissions for the mRNA-1273 in younger children. The company hopes to receive authorization for a 25 μg two-dose primary series of the COVID-19 vaccine. 

In addition, the company is vying to get FDA authorization for children 6 to 12 years old. The shot is already approved for that demographic in Europe, Canada and Australia. 

In addition, an interim analysis of a Phase 2 study of influenza vaccine candidate mRNA-1010 found no significant safety concerns. Furthermore, immunogenicity data from that trial indicate that the vaccine is potentially superior to a standard-dose vaccine for influenza A strains. 

Moderna has three mRNA-based influenza programs.  

The company announced earlier data related to mRNA-1010 in December that indicated that the performance of the quadrivalent seasonal flu vaccine candidate appeared to be roughly in line with the performance of Sanofi’s (Nasdaq:SNY) Fluzone HD flu vaccine.

Moderna also continues to work on several COVID-19 boosters, including omicron-specific and bivalent versions. A Phase 2 U.S. study for the former is fully enrolled while the latter continues to enroll participants. In the UK, a Phase 3 study is underway testing the omicron candidates as a third or fourth dose in fully vaccinated individuals. 

In addition, the company is developing a refrigerator-stable version of its COVID-19 vaccine known as mRNA-1283. 

Moderna continues to develop vaccines for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and is developing hybrid COVID-19/flu and COVID-19/flu/RSV vaccines.  

The company also is working on the vaccine candidate mRNA-1287 to protect against endemic human coronaviruses (HCoVs), which account for 10–30% of upper respiratory tract infections in adults. 

Finally, Moderna is developing vaccines to treat latent viruses, including Cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), Varicella-Zoster virus (VZV), and herpes simplex virus (HSV). 

MRNA shares were up 0.12% to $178.95 in early afternoon trading. 

Filed Under: Infectious Disease
Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
 

About The Author

Brian Buntz

As the pharma and biotech editor at WTWH Media, Brian has almost two decades of experience in B2B media, with a focus on healthcare and technology. While he has long maintained a keen interest in AI, more recently Brian has made making data analysis a central focus, and is exploring tools ranging from NLP and clustering to predictive analytics.

Throughout his 18-year tenure, Brian has covered an array of life science topics, including clinical trials, medical devices, and drug discovery and development. Prior to WTWH, he held the title of content director at Informa, where he focused on topics such as connected devices, cybersecurity, AI and Industry 4.0. A dedicated decade at UBM saw Brian providing in-depth coverage of the medical device sector. Engage with Brian on LinkedIn or drop him an email at bbuntz@wtwhmedia.com.

Tell Us What You Think!

Related Articles Read More >

Search Drug Discovery & Development