Moderna said on Thursday its Covid-19 shot was about 93 percent effective through six months after the second dose, showing hardly any change from the 94 percent efficacy reported in its original clinical trial.
That compares favorably to data from Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE last week in which they said their vaccine’s efficacy waned around six percent every two months, declining to around 84 percent six months after the second shot.
Moderna and Pfizer BioNTech vaccines were based on messengerRNA (mRNA).
Moderna Chief Executive Stephane Bangle stated that “our Covid-19 vaccine has shown durable efficacy of 93% through six months.” However, the Delta variant poses a significant threat to our health so we must be vigilant.
Moderna stated that a booster dose is necessary before the winter season because antibody levels will likely decrease.
This comment is made as public health officials around the world debate whether additional doses of coronavirus vaccine are safe, effective, and necessary.
Pfizer plans to apply for authorization to administer a third shot in the next month. Some countries, such as Israel, have already started or plan to begin giving shots to elderly or vulnerable patients.
Moderna also stated that three booster candidates were tested and produced strong antibody responses to variants. These included the Gamma, Beta, and Delta variants.
The boost was able to neutralize antibody levels similar to those after the second shot, according to the company.
Moderna signed 20 billion dollars worth of vaccine contracts last year and plans to produce 800 million to 1 billion doses.
It has signed agreements worth $12 billion for 2022 with options to sell another $8 billion. The company expects to produce between 2 and 3 billion doses next fiscal year.
The company, however, has not been able to keep pace with the production of much larger rival Pfizer, which expects to manufacture as many as 3 billion doses this year, and expects 2021 sales to top $33.5 billion. Moderna’s vaccine was approved for emergency use in the United States for adults in December. It has been cleared for conditional or emergency use in more than 50 countries.
The company began the process of submitting for full approval to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in June and is expected to complete its submission by August.
The company posted sales of $4.4billion in the second quarter, which is slightly higher than the $4.2billion expected by Refinitiv’s 10 analysts. The firm’s Covid-19 shot, which is its first product authorized by the company, was only $67 million in sales a year ago.
Moderna’s quarterly earnings of $5.96 per share beat the expectations by $2.78 billion or $6.46 per share.
