Posted ,
Reading 2 mins.
The European Medicines Agency has just launched an evaluation procedure for a modified version of Pfizer’s anti-Covid vaccine. It would aim more particularly to protect against the Omicron variants of the virus.
A version of Pfizer’s anti-Covid vaccine could soon be released in the European Union (EU). This is announced by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which began on Wednesday the evaluation of a new vaccine targeting the Omicron variants.
Ongoing review to gather data
With the increase in cases of Omicron (in particular BA.4 and BA.5, in Great Britain and the Netherlands), the EMA wishes to accelerate the marketing of this new candidate vaccine, called mRNA-1273.214, which would show very good results.
“As the company progresses with the development of its suitable vaccine, the EMA will receive more data, including data on the immune response to the vaccine, as well as data on its effectiveness against the subvariants of Omicron”underlines the agency in a press release.
Through this ongoing review, the agency will be able to assess the data as it becomes available.
However, the details of this modified vaccine “are not yet defined“. The EMA specifies, in this case, that it does not yet know “whether it will specifically target one or more variants of Covid“.
Once the data has been collected and examined, the agency, based in Amsterdam (Netherlands), will make an official application for the marketing of the drug within the EU.
As a reminder, the agency has already approved the use of five vaccines within the European Union: messenger RNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna), those of the Swedish-British laboratory (AstraZeneca) and its American rival (Johnson & Johnson) as well as the Nuvaxovid vaccine from the American company Novavax.
Consult a GP online
Modified Moderna vaccine: a good initiative for people at risk?
According to biotech company Moderna, this new vaccine candidate would have “a superior antibody response (…) against the Omicron variant, one month after its administration, compared to the original vaccine”.
This new version of the vaccine is also “bivalent”, that is to say that it targets both the initial strain of the virus but also the Omicron variant. As for the side effects, they are comparable to those observed with the original vaccine.
“We anticipate prolonged protection against variants of concern with mRNA-1273.214, making it our lead candidate for a fall 2022 boost”, declared Stéphane Bancel, the boss of Moderna.
This booster vaccine could more particularly concern groups at risk and unvaccinated people, who are more affected by the variants currently in circulation.