CAMBRIDGE – Moderna announced the combination on Monday COVID And flu vaccine showed positive results in a late-stage study.
The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech company said the mRNA-1083 vaccine produced a higher immune response in older adults than the individual shots administered simultaneously in the study.
“Combination vaccines have the potential to reduce the burden of respiratory viruses on healthcare systems and pharmacies, offering people more convenient vaccination options that can improve compliance and provide stronger protection against seasonal diseases,” Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said in a statement Monday. . “Moderna is the only company with a positive Phase 3 flu and COVID combination vaccine.
The Phase 3 study involved two groups of approximately 4,000 adults each. One group consisted of adults between 50 and 64 years old and the other group consisted only of adults over 65 years old. In the older group, the combination vaccine was compared with a flu shot with a higher dose.
“In both age cohorts, mRNA-1083 also elicited statistically significantly higher immune responses against three influenza virus strains (H1N1, H3N2, and B/Victoria) and against SARS-CoV-2,” Moderna reported.
The company said the trial showed the new combination vaccine has “an acceptable tolerability and safety profile.” The most commonly reported side effects were pain at the injection site, fatigue, muscle pain and headache.
When will Moderna’s combination COVID/flu vaccine be available?
Early 2022, Moderna said it planned to have a combination COVID and flu vaccine ready by fall 2023. Many months later, it is still unclear when the public will have access to the shot.
Moderna said it will “consult with regulators on next steps” for its combination vaccine. In a letter to shareholders early this year, Bancel said the aim is to have the combination vaccine ready as early as 2025.
Is one shot better than two?
Speaking to CBS News last fall, as Moderna prepared to begin the late-stage trial, Montclair State University public health professor Dr. Stephanie Navarro Silvera said a combination vaccine would be more attractive to people who don’t like receive multiple injections.
“Let’s face it, no one wants to get more than one shot,” she said. “So if we can combine two vaccines into one … that will be a public health victory.”
Moderna’s competitors are also working on a combination shot. Pfizer and BioNTech said last October it was preparing a Phase 3 trial after achieving “positive topline results” in previous studies. And Novavax’s website says a vaccine against COVID and seasonal flu is in the Phase 2 trial phase.
