Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) announced Monday that a third dose of its mRNA vaccine against COVID-19 appears to provide significant protection against the omicron variant, sending shares higher in early trading.
The company said its authorized booster can "boost neutralizing antibody levels 37-fold higher than pre-boost levels," which it described as reassuring.
However, it also said that a double doze of the booster shot — 100 micrograms, rather than the approved 50 micrograms — was significantly more effective. A 100 microgram booster dose increased neutralizing antibody levels “approximately 83-fold,” according to preliminary data, it said in a release.
The 100 microgram dose of its booster shot was "generally safe and well tolerated," Moderna said, though "there was a trend toward slightly more frequent adverse reactions following the 100 [microgram] booster dose relative to the authorized 50 [microgram] dose."
Without a booster, the company’s vaccine, called mRNA-1273, was been found to be far less effective against the fast-spreading omicron variant, generating low neutralizing antibodies.
The data have not yet been peer reviewed.
The company said it will also continue to develop an omicron-specific booster candidate which should enter clinical trials in early 2022.
The decision to focus on its current COVID-19 booster, rather than the variant-specific vaccine, was because of both the speed of omicron’s spread and its confidence in its current offering, the company said.
MRNA shares began Monday up $14.13, or 4.8%, to $308.93.
