Moderna to Test Vaccine Booster Against South Africa Strain, as Biden Bans Travel

President Biden yesterday revived a travel ban aimed at preventing the mutated strain of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus first detected in South Africa  from reaching the U.S. — and Moderna said it will launch a trial to evaluate a booster shot meant to provide additional protection against the mutated strain.

The South Africa variant hasn’t, so far, been identified among U.S. COVID-19 cases, according to Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. To ensure it or other mutated strains don’t enter the country, President Biden has also restored a ban on most travel to Europe, the UK and Brazil, reversing the Trump administration’s decision to open up travel from those regions.

Moderna’s vaccine appears to induce antibodies against both the UK and South-Africa-identified viral strains, but it showed greater efficacy against the UK variant, according to data from a study uploaded yesterday on the pre-print server bioRxiv.

The study, which was conducted in partnership with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), evaluated the antibodies found in the blood of eight human trial participants as well as in monkeys.

“Data from this sample set shows mRNA-1273 maintained activity against all circulating strain variants tested to date, and only the B.1.351 variant showed reduced neutralizing titers,” the researchers said.

Moderna is progressing its booster shot for the South Africa variant B.1.351 to a U.S.-based phase 1 trial but has no plans to develop a booster for the UK strain, B.1.1.7, a spokesperson told FDAnews.

Separately, as previously reported, Moderna will launch an NIH-backed phase 1 trial in July to evaluate whether a third shot provides greater efficacy for those who already received two doses (DID, Jan. 19).

Moderna also said it expects that its vaccine, or its new South Africa variant-specific booster, can be used “to further boost neutralizing titers in combination with all of the leading vaccine candidates.”

In related news, the World Health Organization is expected to release the recommendation of its expert panel on Moderna’s vaccine today.

Click to read the study: bit.ly/3iJcslP ― Jason Scott