((Automated translation by Reuters, please see disclaimer https://bit.ly/rtrsauto))
(Added details and information about the vaccine to paragraphs 4, 5 and 8)
Moderna MRNA.O said Thursday its next-generation COVID-19 vaccine candidate showed it was no less effective than the approved vaccine in a late-stage study.
The experimental vaccine, which met the primary goal of the trial, was tested on more than 11,000 people aged 12 and older. The vaccine was found to be more effective in adults than the current vaccine sold under the brand name Spikevax.
Moderna designed the next-generation vaccine to have a longer shelf life and be able to be stored and shipped in refrigerators rather than freezers, which could remove a major hurdle to its distribution, especially in developing countries.
The new findings build on data published in March, which showed the vaccine elicited a stronger immune response against the Omicron BA.4/BA.5 variant and original strains of the coronavirus than Spikevax.
Moderna is working on several new messenger RNA vaccines, including the recently approved RSV vaccine, mRESVIA, and other investigational vaccines, to meet declining demand for COVID vaccines.
The company will present clinical data at a conference and speak with regulators about next steps for the next-generation COVID vaccine.
The new COVID vaccine is also being tested in combination with Moderna’s flu vaccine.
On Monday, the company said the combination vaccine generated a stronger immune response in adults aged 50 and older in a late-stage trial compared to separate vaccines.
The drugmaker hopes to launch the combination vaccine for the fall respiratory illness season next year, Stephen Hoge, Moderna’s president, said at the time.
“If it’s not 2025, it will be 2026
