Moderna ships variant-specific coronavirus vaccine candidate to NIH for testing

Shares of US biotech Moderna (Nasdaq: MRNA) were up more than 4% at $151.10, after it announced on Wednesday that it has completed manufacturing of clinical trial material for its variant-specific vaccine candidate, mRNA-1273.351, against the SARS-CoV-2 variant known as B.1.351 first identified in the Republic of South Africa.

The company has shipped doses to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for a Phase I clinical trial that will be led and funded by the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Moderna also is providing an update on its strategy for addressing SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern.

While initial data confirms that the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine (mRNA-1273) provides neutralizing activity against variants of concern, out of an abundance of caution, Moderna is pursuing two strategies against these variants, subject to US Food and Drug Administration review. First, the company is evaluating booster doses of vaccine to increase neutralizing immunity against the variants of concern.