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South African vaccine with specific virus variant ready to be tested: Modern
Washington:
The American biotech firm Moderna said on Wednesday that doses of its new Covid-19 candidate vaccine targeting the South African coronavirus variant had been sent to the US National Institutes of Health for analysis.
“We look forward to beginning the clinical study of our booster variant and are grateful for the NIH’s continued collaboration to combat this pandemic,” said Executive Director Stephane Bancel.
The South African variant is considered one of the most dangerous current mutations because it evades some of the blocking action of antibodies that target the older coronavirus strain.
That means that people who were infected with the classic strain are more susceptible to reinfection, and research has also shown that the variant has partially reduced the protection of the current generation of vaccines.
While initial testing has shown that Moderna’s original vaccine, called mRNA-1273, is still effective against emerging variants, the company said it was seeking the development of a variant-specific vaccine as part of a series of strategies being developed. considering.
A South African variant-specific candidate, called mRNA-1273,351, could be used as a booster, or the company could use a booster that combines the classic vaccine with the variant-specific mRNA-1273,351 to create a new product.
Another idea is that people could get a third dose of the classic vaccine to boost their overall immunity.
Moderna is also considering the use of South African variant-specific mRNA-1273,351 or combined injection as the primary dose.
The US Food and Drug Administration announced Monday that drug manufacturers developing variant-specific vaccines would not need to go through the same lengthy authorization process they had for their original injections.
Moderna also announced that it was increasing its global manufacturing capacity and could produce up to 1.4 billion doses of its vaccine in 2022 if necessary.
In addition, it said it was increasing its 2021 manufacturing plan from 600 million doses to 700 million doses globally. Moderna has shipped 60 million doses so far, 55 million within the US.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
