Modern hopes to have a booster shot for the two-dose Covid vaccine available in the fall, CEO Stephane Bancel told CNBC on Wednesday.
“I want to make sure there are booster shots available in the fall in order to protect people as we enter the next fall and winter season in the U.S.,” Bancel said in an interview with Squawk Box.
Last month, the National Institutes of Health began testing several offers from Moderna to use them as a third feature designed to increase immunity protection as concern grows for emerging variants, including the discovery in South- Africa, also known as B.1.351. variant.
The Food and Drug Administration’s approach to authorizing modified Covid vaccines is similar to that of annual influenza vaccines, meaning they could be eliminated for emergency use without lengthy clinical trials.
Modern, based in Massachusetts, expects to send data to regulators in a few months, Bancel added. “Our goal is to work very hard to prepare for it before the fall,” he reiterated.
Bancel’s comments came a day after Moderna announced the existing vaccine was more than 90% effective in protecting against Covid for up to six months after the second dose. It was more than 95% effective against serious diseases in that same period of time, the biotech firm said in its update, which could bring it closer to obtaining full regulatory approval.
Currently, 453 cases related to variant B.1.351 have been reported, according to data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This variant, in particular, has concerned public health experts. It has been shown to reduce the effectiveness of existing Covid vaccines, including those in Moderna.
Bancel on Wednesday reiterated its belief that annual Covid vaccine promoters will be commonplace in the future, saying the coronavirus “does not go away” and “does not leave the planet.”
“I predict that next year or so, we will see many variants. But as more and more people are vaccinated or infected naturally, the rate of the variant will slow down and the virus will stabilize as seen with the flu,” he said. dir Bancel.
Finally, he added, Moderna hopes to be able to have a two-in-one vaccine that protects against seasonal flu and Covid. The company announced in September its intentions to make a flu vaccine.
“What we’re trying to do at Moderna is try to get a flu shot at the clinic this year and then combine our flu shot with the Covid vaccine, so you just have to get a boost at your local CVS store … every year that would protect you from the variant of concern against Covid and the seasonal flu strain, ”Bancel said.
“We believe we can come up with a high-effective flu vaccine,” he added. In a given year, current flu vaccines are approximately 40% to 60% effective, according to the CDC.
Bancel also said U.S. regulators on Tuesday recommended that states pause the use of the single-shot Covid vaccine by Johnson & Johnson after concerns about rare but severe blood clots developing in the receivers.
The move shows that “the FDA will not hesitate to be very cautious in analyzing the data, in taking the time necessary to do so, in protecting the safety of the American people,” he said, arguing that the way regulators manage the J&J situation would reduce the vaccination of the vaccine and not increase it.