RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The protection provided by Moderna Laboratories’ vaccine against the coronavirus lasts at least six months, according to research published Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The articles echoes what drugmaker Pfizer said last week about its own vaccine, which works similarly to that of Moderna
Both reports were based on follow-up tests of dozens of people who received the shots during studies that led to the vaccines’ use. The studies were conducted before worrisome new variants of the coronavirus emerged and began to spread.
Another report published in the same medical journal warned of growing concern about Covid-19 variants. Scientists measured antibodies that can block the virus in 50 people who had received the Sinopharm or Sinovac vaccines developed in China. Many showed a total or partial loss of efficacy against a virus’s variant first detected in South Africa.
The vaccines still appeared to protect against the variant first found in the U.K. and now spreading rapidly in the U.S. and other countries around the world.
Pfizer and Moderna have said they are working on updating their vaccines or designing a booster vaccine, should they be needed against the new variants.
The U.S. drugmaker also announced that it has entered into a “long-term strategic collaboration” with Catalent to package its Covid-19 vaccine and the rest of its product portfolio.
Catalent will supply a new high-speed packaging line for the coronavirus vaccine that Moderna produces, according to a statement, which added that the new technology could also be used for the drugmaker’s other research programs.
In June 2020, the two companies announced a first agreement that allowed Moderna to fill and package 100 million doses completed on March 29th, the company itself explained.
This new filling line will serve the pharmaceutical company until June 2023 and will include inspection, labeling, packaging, and final product presentation by Catalent.
“This additional filling and finishing capacity will be vital not only for the Covid-19 vaccine but potentially for other programs in the development of our clinical portfolio,” said Moderna’s chief technical officer of operations, Juan Andres, quoted in the release.
Catalent CEO Alessandro Maselli, meanwhile, stressed that its partnership with Moderna dated back to 2016 and praised “the expansion of the strategic collaboration” between the two companies.
Catalent announced in September 2020 the investment of US$50 million in the creation of a third rapid packaging line at its Bloomington, Indiana, headquarters.
The statement said the company shortened the installation process from 18 to 10 months and noted that the new filling line would be completed this April.
Moderna’s vaccine received emergency authorization in the United States on December 18th and has since been given the green light in many other countries, including the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom, Israel, and Canada.
In February, the company announced it expects to earn at least US$18.4 billion this year through the contracts it has signed to supply its covid-19 vaccine.
Source: Infobae