Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) on Wednesday said its combination vaccine targeting COVID and the flu will move to a final stage trial in adults ages 50 and above this year after showing positive results in an early to mid-stage study.
The biotech company hopes its shot, mRNA-1083, can win approval from regulators in 2025.
Moderna and other vaccine makers like Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) believe combination vaccines will simplify what people can do to protect themselves against respiratory viruses that typically surge around the same time of the year.
“Combination vaccines offer an important opportunity to improve consumer and provider experience, increase compliance with public health recommendations, and deliver value for healthcare systems,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said.
“We are excited to move combination respiratory vaccines into Phase 3 development and look forward to partnering with public health officials to address the significant seasonal threat posed to people by these viruses,” he added.
The mRNA-1083 shot generated an immune response similar to or greater than two currently available flu vaccines from GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) in the early to mid-stage clinical trial.
Moderna’s combination shot also produced an immune response similar to its bivalent COVID vaccine, which targets the omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5 and the original strain of the virus.
MRNA shares subsided $1.81, or 1.8%, to $101.27.
