Moderna's Redesigned COVID Shot Offers Stronger Protection Against Omicron

Moderna announced that its redesigned COVID-19 booster shot provides stronger protection against the Omicron variant. The new booster shot is a bivalent vaccine that targets both the original strain of COVID-19 and the Omicron variant in a single dose.

The company said that clinical trial results showed that the booster shot provided an eight-fold increase in neutralizing antibody levels. In addition to providing protection against the Omicron variant, Moderna said the bivalent vaccine also provided strong protection against other strains of the coronavirus.

"We are thrilled to share the preliminary data analysis on mRNA-1273.214, which is the second demonstration of superiority of our bivalent booster platform against variants of concern and represents an innovation in the fight against COVID," said Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna. "Looking at these data alongside the durability we saw with our first bivalent booster candidate, mRNA-1273.211, we anticipate more durable protection against variants of concern with mRNA-1273.214, making it our lead candidate for a Fall 2022 booster."

Moderna did not publicly release the preliminary data from the clinical trial and said it plans to submit it to the Food and Drug Administration in hopes of having it authorized by the late summer or early fall.