Moderna working on new omicron vaccine; trials scheduled for early 2022

After announcing that the booster shot of its COVID-19 vaccine was effective against the rapidly spreading omicron variant of the coronavirus, US pharma giant Moderna has announced that it is working on an updated jab, which is expected to enter the clinical trials stage sometime in early 2022.

Speaking to Swiss newspaper TagesAnzeiger on Tuesday, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said that his company was looking to develop a vaccine specifically for omicron, and that development of the vaccine would start in “another week or two,” once some critical information on the omicron variant had been obtained.

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While the development of the new vaccine would begin at the earliest, Bancel said that timeframes for large scale production would depend on regulatory requirements, and it could take up to three months for approval from bodies such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Switzerland’s Swissmedic.

“It will take a few months before we can produce 500 million doses after (regulatory) approval. But our capacities are much higher today than a year ago,” said Bancel, offering assurance that the vaccine would be produced as early as possible.

Meanwhile, it is understood that Moderna will continue to focus on its booster shot for the time being, which, it holds, remains the “first line of defence against omicron.” Moderna only recently announced that its booster shot was effective against the omicron variant, and Bancel assuaged fears, saying, “It only needs minor adjustments for omicron. I don’t expect any problems.”

Indeed, as per available data, Moderna’s authorised 50-microgram booster jab can lead to a 37-fold increase in antibodies against the latest strain of the coronavirus, while a 100-microgram booster dose sees that figure rise to 83-fold. Bancel has described this data as “reassuring” and has assured the public that his company would “rapidly advance an omicron-specific booster candidate into clinical testing in case it becomes necessary in the future.”

Also read | US records first death linked to omicron variant of COVID: Report

With the omicron variant becoming the dominant variant of the coronavirus in the US and various other parts of the world, Moderna’s announcement will come as welcome news ahead of the new year. Moderna managed to produce between 700 million to 800 million vaccines in 2021, and as per Reuters, they have increased their monthly production capacity to 150 million per month in the hopes of churning out higher numbers of vaccines in 2022.