Bivalent mRNA-1273.214 Elicits Better Response Against Omicron

TUESDAY, Sept. 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Interim results of an ongoing study show that use of the bivalent omicron-containing vaccine mRNA-1273.214 as a second booster elicits neutralizing antibody responses against omicron that are superior to those for mRNA-1273, according to a study published online Sept. 16 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Spyros Chalkias, M.D., from Moderna in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and colleagues compared the 50-μg bivalent vaccine mRNA-1273.214 (25 μg each of ancestral Wuhan-Hu-1 and omicron B.1.1.529 [BA.1] spike messenger RNAs) with the previously authorized 50-μg mRNA-1273 booster in an ongoing phase 2 to 3 study. mRNA-1273.214 or mRNA-1273 was administered as a booster to adults who had previously received a two-dose primary series and first booster dose of mRNA-1273 three or more months earlier (437 and 377 participants, respectively).

The researchers found that for participants with no previous severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection, the geometric mean titers of neutralizing antibodies against the omicron BA.1 variant were 2,372.4 and 1,473.5 after receipt of the mRNA-1273.214 and mRNA-1273 boosters, respectively. In addition, the mRNA-1273.214 and mRNA-1273 boosters elicited geometric mean titers of 727.4 and 492.1, respectively, against omicron BA.4 and BA.5; higher binding antibody responses against multiple other variants was elicited by the mRNA-1273.214 booster versus the mRNA-1273 booster. The two boosters had similar safety and reactogenicity.

"These results are consistent with the evaluation of our bivalent beta-containing vaccine, which induced enhanced and durable antibody responses," the authors write. "Together, these findings indicate that bivalent vaccines may be a new tool in the response to emerging variants."

Several authors disclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Moderna, which funded the study.

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