By
Godfrey Benjamin
October 4th, 2023
Moderna’s mRNA vaccine has shown strong results with the delta, beta, and eta COVID-19 variants which have been the cause of concern over the last few months. The US pharma giant also secured emergency approval from the Government of India to use its vaccine for authorized purposes.
On Tuesday, June 29, Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA) jumped 5% amid positive commentary from the management on the latest vaccine results. Moderna said that its COVID-19 vaccine has shown better results in lab testing against coronavirus variants.
The pharmaceutical giant also announced that the vaccine has shown good results against the highly contagious delta variant that first originated in India. The two doses of mRNA effectively produced neutralizing antibodies against the delta variant. It also showed similar neutralizing effects against the beta and eta variants first found in South Africa and Nigeria.
Moderna tested the blood serums of eight participants one week after they received the second dose of the mRNA vaccine. The results in the lab setting are positive, however, they may not necessarily replicate in the real-world scenario. Speaking about the development, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said:
“We remain committed to studying emerging variants, generating data and sharing it as it becomes available. These new data are encouraging and reinforce our belief that the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine should remain protective against newly detected variants. These findings highlight the importance of continuing to vaccinate populations with an effective primary series vaccine.”
The Delta variant is reportedly spread across 92 countries of the world, including the U.S. As per WHO, it could become a more dominant variant of the COVID-19 virus worldwide.
Vaccine by Moderna Gets Emergency Approval in India
In another announcement, on Tuesday, June 29, Moderna noted that the Government of India has given emergency approval for its COVID-19 vaccine. The GoI has issued a registration certificate and issued the permission for Moderna Vaccine for authorized use. Commenting on this development, the Moderna CEO said:
“I want to thank the government of India for this authorization, which marks an important step forward in the global fight against the pandemic. We are committed to making our COVID-19 vaccine available around the world.”
The positive news has also directly reflected in the MRNA stock surging 5.17% on Tuesday’s trading session. Besides, the Moderna stock has delivered over 100% returns so far in 2021. MRNA has been one of the top performers during the market rally over the last year. The stock price has shot 4x or appreciated nearly 300% over the last year.
Amid the rising concerns with the Delta variant, WHO issued fresh guidelines last week. The global organization has urged fully vaccinated people to continue to wear masks, maintain social distance, and continue to practice other pandemic safety measures. Dr. Mariangela Simao, WHO assistant director-general said:
“People cannot feel safe just because they had the two doses. They still need to protect themselves. Vaccine alone won’t stop community transmission. People need to continue to use masks consistently, be in ventilated spaces, hand hygiene … the physical distance, avoid crowding. This still continues to be extremely important, even if you’re vaccinated when you have a community transmission ongoing.”
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