Pharmalittle: Moderna proceeds with a vaccine trial to combat Covid-19 variant; who will be the next FDA commish?

Top of the morning to you, and a fine one it is. Once again, clear blue skies and comfortable breezes are enveloping the Pharmalot campus on what is a relatively balmy start to the day. Hard to believe, but it appears that “sprinter” has finally arrived. What is sprinter? You know, that pivotal moment when winter blurs into spring. We hope we are not calling this prematurely, but we feel this deserves another cup of stimulation. Our choice today is coconut. Meanwhile, here are some tidbits. Hope your day goes well, and stay safe — wear a mask. …

Moderna (MRNA) is moving ahead with a modified version of its Covid-19 vaccine meant to protect against an emerging strain of the virus and plans to start a clinical trial as soon as regulators give a green light, STAT writes. Lab tests suggested the Moderna vaccine confers less protection against a variant known as B.1.351 than other strains. Pfizer (PFE) reported similar findings with its shot, and human trials conducted by Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Novavax (NVAX) also suggest vaccines designed for the original strain are less effective against B.1.351.

Could the solution to protecting against emerging variants of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 be more of the current vaccines, STAT asks. While Moderna and Pfizer, along with its partner BioNTech (BNTX), have announced plans to test vaccines specifically targeted at variants of the virus, they are also planning to test the idea of simply giving people three doses instead of two of their vaccines that have already been authorized. Experts say it is at least conceivable it could work.

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