The vaccine “triggered a higher immune response” than separate vaccines, according to Moderna. (Photo: 123RF)
The American company Moderna announced on Monday good results for its combined vaccine against influenza and COVID-19 in adults aged 50 and over.
Tested on several thousand people, the vaccine “triggered a higher immune response” than separate vaccines already approved against these two diseases, according to Moderna.
“Combined vaccines can reduce the burden of respiratory viruses on health systems and pharmacies and provide the population with more convenient vaccination options,” company boss Stéphane Bancel said in a statement.
According to him, being able to administer a single vaccine against these two diseases at the same time could make it possible to increase vaccination rates in the targeted population.
Other pharmaceutical companies are working on such a combined vaccine, such as Pfizer and Novavax, but Moderna is the first to provide results from phase 3, i.e. large-scale, trials.
The vaccine, called mRNA-1083 and using messenger RNA technology, combines Moderna’s “latest generation” COVID-19 vaccine and its flu vaccine candidate, which has not received authorization for moment.
The clinical trial included two groups of 4000 people.
In the first group, made up of adults aged 65 and older, the combination vaccine was compared to Sanofi’s Fluzone vaccine and Moderna’s approved COVID-19 vaccine, administered separately.
In the second group, this time adults aged 50 to 64, the combined vaccine was compared to GlaxoSmithKline’s Fluarix vaccine and still Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.
Each time, the combined vaccine elicited a higher immune response against the Covid and influenza virus (H1N1, H3N2 subtypes and B-Victoria lineage).
Moderna said it plans to submit detailed results of the trial for publication in a scientific journal. The company “will speak with regulatory authorities regarding next steps,” the statement added.
