Modernas COVID-19 Vaccine Shows Promise Against Delta Variant in Lab Study

(Reuters) – Moderna Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine showed modest reductions in neutralizing antibodies against emerging variants, including the Delta variant first identified in India, in a lab study, the drugmaker said on Tuesday.

The study was conducted on blood serum from eight participants obtained one week after they received the second dose of the vaccine in an early-stage trial, and followed the same protocol as a test against other worrisome variants that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in April (https://bit.ly/3h0PdnU).

In the new test, vaccination produced antibodies capable of neutralizing all variants, including additional versions of the Beta variant first identified in South Africa and three lineages of variants first identified in India, including the Kappa (also known as B.1.617.1) and Delta (B.1.617.2) variants.

The analysis showed some reduction of neutralization against a few of the newer variants, according to a company statement (https://bit.ly/3A9Z3vl), including Delta (2.1-fold), Kappa (3.3-3.4-fold), and Gamma – first identified in Brazil – (3.2-fold).

“These new data are encouraging and reinforce our belief that the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine should remain protective against newly detected variants,” Chief Executive Stéphane Bancel said.

Earlier in the day, India granted permission to drugmaker Cipla Ltd to import Moderna’s vaccine to the country for restricted use.

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