The updated vaccine will specifically target the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of Omicron which are currently driving a new wave of infections around the world.
Moderna’s current clinical data is for a shot based on the original Wuhan strain of SARS-CoV-2 and the first Omicron subvariant (BA.1) that emerged towards the end of last year.
However, the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) concluded in a recent meeting that future booster campaigns should ideally include jabs targeting BA.4 and BA.5. Moderna’s BA.1-based booster showed lesser activity against the new subvariants.
