American pharmaceutical company Moderna announced on the 20th that it will launch a vaccine that is effective against both the flu and the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) after next year.
Paul Burton, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Moderna, will start supplying a next-generation vaccine that has a preventive effect on COVID-19 micron and delta mutations in early September, and aims to commercialize a vaccine that can be used in combination with influenza prevention next year. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) reported that day.
In an interview with Nikkei, CMO Burton said, “Corona 19 will not disappear from the world, and it will need to be vaccinated once a year just like the flu.” We are conducting clinical trials for this drug, so if necessary, we will supply it early.
“Moreover, we are thinking of providing a ‘bivalent vaccine’ that combines an Omicron mutation counteracting vaccine and a current vaccine effective against delta mutations. I want to create a system that can start a clinical trial in March for ‘shot (boost vaccination)’ and ship it in early September as early as possible.”
He added, “If another mutant virus is prevalent, the combination of the ‘bivalent vaccine’ can be changed.”
In particular, CMO Burton emphasized, “After 2023, we want to aim to provide a ‘mixed vaccine’ that combines influenza and COVID-19.”
CMO Burton pointed out that ‘As the epidemic of omicron mutations has passed the peak, concerns about the next mutation are emerging’, he said, “Modena’s messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine design uses a computer algorithm to streamline the gene analysis process.” As long as there is genetic analysis data for any mutation, a vaccine can be designed within a few hours, enabling flexible responses to complex designs, such as responding to multiple mutated viruses.”
He added, “It took about two months from the first report on omicron mutation to the clinical trial for the vaccine,” he said.
Regarding cross-vaccination at the third dose, Burton CMO said, “In a Singapore study that compared and analyzed the group receiving the Moderna vaccine after 3 doses of Pfizer and 2 doses of Pfizer, the cross-vaccination group had a higher preventive effect,” said Burton. “There is a report that the amount of neutralizing antibody generated after inoculation exceeds that of cross-inoculation,” he said.
