Moderna announces positive data from new bivalent COVID-19 vaccine
This vaccine includes spike protein structures from two variants of SARS-CoV-2
3 minute read
A press-release by Moderna and associated preprint study released on Tuesday (April 19, 2022) provides insight into the results of their research into a bivalent vaccine candidate. In response to increasing variants of interest, Moderna has developed their first bivalent booster vaccine candidate, mRNA-1273.211.
As a refresher, a bivalent vaccine includes two different antigens (bi- means two). If you recall from our post about monoclonal antibodies, the antigen target in the COVID-19 vaccines are the spike protein. In the case of this bivalent vaccine, these two antigens are the mRNA sequences that encode ancestral spike protein and the Beta variant spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. Some of the spike protein mutations from the Beta variant are also present in the Delta variant and the current dominant variant: Omicron.
There are many polyvalent vaccines out there that we use to provide additional coverage against either multiple different disease-causing pathogens or multiple strains of a single pathogen. As an example, the MMR vaccine is a trivalent vaccine, as it includes antigens for measles, mumps, and rubella, and the MMRV vaccine is a quadrivalent, with the addition of varicella zoster virus antigen. Another example is our seasonal influenza vaccine; this year’s happens to be a quadrivalent, with antigens for (2) influenza A virus strains and (2) influenza B virus strains.
With regard to the new Moderna bivalent COVID-19 vaccine, the results indicate that a 50 μg dose provides enhanced immunogenicity with the same level of tolerability and safety as the currently authorized 50 μg mRNA booster, particularly against newer SARS-CoV-2 variants.
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