INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Moderna expects its vaccine will remain protective for at least a year after completing two-dose course.Moderna Inc said on Monday it
believes its Covid-19 vaccine protects against new variants found in Britain and South Africa, although it will test a new booster shot
aimed at the South African variant after concluding the antibody response could be diminished.The company said in a news release it found no
reduction in the antibody response against the variant found in Britain
Against the South African variant, it found a reduced response but still believed its two-dose regimen would provide protection.Moderna
shares closed 12.2 per cent higher at $147.00 on Monday.India manufactures more than 60 per cent of all vaccines sold across the globe, and
while its $40 billion pharmaceutical sector is not yet involved in the production of the expensive Pfizer Inc and Moderna shots, the nation
will play a pivotal role in immunising much of the world.Indian pharmaceutical companies are set to produce eight, more affordable vaccines
variants in Britain, South Africa and Brazil has created some concern that mutations in the virus may make vaccines less effective.Moderna
Moderna President Stephen Hoge said on a conference call
it's important that we remain vigilant and develop potential tools and countermeasures that would allow us to continue to beat back the
It does not expect to test a third dose until at least six months after that course is finished.Jefferies analyst Michael Yee said in a
research note it was encouraging that the antibody response of the Moderna vaccine to the South African variant was still above the levels
that provide protection.Mr Yee also said the speed with which Moderna was able to design a new booster shot candidate was proof of the
flexibility of the new mRNA technology upon which it is based.Dr Paul Offit, an infectious disease expert at the University of Pennsylvania
and a member of the US Food and Drug Administration's vaccine advisory panel, said he was only mildly concerned the vaccine would not be
goal of this vaccine is to keep you out of the hospital and to keep you out of the morgue
and BioNTech SE have also said tests showed their vaccine is effective against the variant found in Britain, but have not yet disclosed
results against the South African variant.That variant first found in Britain has caused a massive surge in cases there and has also been
found in more than a dozen US states
US public health officials expect it to be the dominant variant in the United States within six weeks.
