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| Modena Vaccines © AFP=News1 |
On the 25th, the US pharmaceutical company Modena announced the results of a study that the COVID-19 vaccine developed by its company is effective against mutant viruses. However, he feared that the immune effect could disappear quickly for mutations originating in South Africa.
According to the BBC, Moderna announced that its vaccine produced virus neutralizing antibodies to mutant viruses in Britain and South Africa, respectively, in an experiment conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
The researchers looked at blood samples taken from eight people who received two doses of the recommended dose of Modena vaccine. As a result, it was found that the vaccine recognized the mutant virus and formed neutralizing antibodies.
However, enough antibodies were found to be expected to have a strong immune effect against the British variant virus, but the South African virus did not. Compared to general Corona 19, it only produced a neutralizing antibody at the level of one-sixth.
Modena said that this level would also protect the inoculum from the South African mutant virus, but “it could mean that the protective effect could disappear sooner.”
To improve this, Stefan Bancel Modena, CEO, announced that it will develop a booster shot (a vaccine that is suitable to help sustain the drug) and enter a clinical trial.
“The mutation booster vaccine candidate will be tested to see if it will work against the South African variant and other mutations that may arise in the future,” he said.
Modena announced that the results of this clinical trial will be published on the scholarly publication site’Biorxiv.org’.
Pfizer and Bioentech also said their vaccines have proven to be effective against the mutant virus found in the UK, but have yet to release results for the South African mutation.
The mutant viruses found in the UK and South Africa are known to be far more contagious than conventional viruses, but recent studies have shown that they are more lethal. In particular, the South African mutant was more concerned that the existing vaccine might not work well.
Although the result of an incomplete experiment, the market cheered. After the test results were announced, Modena stocks surged 12.20% on the New York Stock Market.