The vaccine maker of COVID-19 Moderna does not expect any problems in preparing a booster dose of its vaccine to protect against the Omicron variant of the coronavirus and may start working on it within a few weeks, he said in an interview. of the company’s CEO, Stefan Bancel.
Moderna hopes to begin clinical trials early this year to develop a vaccine that will protect against the rapidly spreading Omicron variant, but is currently focused on developing a booster dose of its existing mRNA-1273 vaccine.
“All that is needed is small adjustments for Omicron. I do not expect any problems,” Bansel said in an interview published today in the Swiss newspaper TagesAnzeiger.
The company is now awaiting important information about the variant to begin developing the vaccine.
“It will take another week or two,” Banchel said.
“It will take a few months before we can prepare 500 million doses after (regulatory) approval. But its potential is much greater today than it was a year ago,” he added.
If regulators such as the US Food and Drug Administration and the Swiss Swissmedic require further studies, this will add at least three months.
“Some authorities are asking for a study, others have not yet decided. In my opinion it depends a lot on how severe the disease is as it progresses,” he said.
Following delivery and production delays in early 2021, Moderna can now catch up with production targets and deliver orders on time.
The company has produced 700 to 800 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine this year and expects to produce more in 2022, boosting production from 100 million doses per month to 150 million.
More production lines will be organized through an agreement with the Swiss-based pharmaceutical company Lonza and will start operating in the first quarter of 2022, boosting production, he said, adding that the company has 30 million doses in stock for the first time.
“We have a number of new vaccines under development, for example against the flu or RSV, the ‘respiratory syncytial virus’, which causes a respiratory disease that is fatal for the elderly and young children. We can combine these three mRNA vaccines in one dose and suggest to governments to secure supplies for a certain quantity for many years and then invest in a production unit in this country.This could give these countries priority over supplies in the event of a of a new pandemic, “Bansel concluded.
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