Moderna’s next-gen COVID vaccine notched a higher immune response than its licensed counterpart, passing a phase 3 test.
No data accompanied the company’s announcement Tuesday, with Moderna saying more would be revealed at its vaccine day on Wednesday. But the company said mRNA-1283 elicited a higher immune response against both the omicron BA.4/BA.5 and original virus strains than mRNA-1273.222, a BA.4/BA.5-targeting bivalent vaccine. Moderna added that the highest benefits were in patients over 65, an age bracket at risk of more severe disease.
The trial included about 11,400 patients across the U.S., the U.K. and Canada, with injection site pain reported as the most common local adverse event. The most common systemic side effects were headaches, fatigue, myalgia and chills. All told, Moderna says the safety profile is similar to the approved vaccine Spikevax.