Moderna sees low probability of a more dangerous variant of Covid-19 in the future

Bloomberg — The odds of that new variants of Covid-19 emerge that are more dangerous that the current ones are about one in five, said the CEO of Moderna Inc. (MRNA), Stephane Bancel.

The most likely scenario is that vulnerable people, such as the elderly and the immunocompromised, will need annual boosters to protect against variants that are similar in virulence to omicron, the manager said Thursday in an interview with Bloomberg TV. The CEO spoke the day of a company event that details your research and progress with messenger RNA vaccines.

Moderna is working to reassure investors of its long-term growth prospects as new Covid-19 cases decline following the winter spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant. However, the BA.2 subvariant of ómicron continues to circulatewhich raises concerns about a resurgence and emergence of new variants of the coronavirus with greater power to infect and sicken.

“I think there is an 80% chance that the variants that we are going to see in the future will be manageable from the point of view of severity and the production of vaccines,” Bancel said in the interview. “But I think that we always have to be very cautious, because there is a 20% chance that something very virulent will happen in some of the new variants.

Moderna shares fell 2% starting at 9:46 am in New York. After a rapid ascent that began in 2002, the papers have lost almost a third of their value since the beginning of the year amid the decline of concerns about the Covid-19 pandemic.

Modern has signed deals for $21 billion in vaccine sales by 2022, up from the $19 billion announced in February, according to a statement Thursday. The company also said it talks are underway for additional 2022 and 2023 orders with countries around the world, including the United States.

On Wednesday, Moderna said that would seek approval of its Covid-19 vaccine in children under 6 years of age after the injection generated strong immune responses in a large pediatric trial. Obtain authorization for younger children could be another chance for Moderna, as rival partners Pfizer Inc. (PFE) and BioNTech SE (BNTX) have had setbacks in the study.

Bancel said it is more likely that the authorization of Moderna’s vaccine in very young children arrives first in the UK or other countries. Approval in young children could take a bit longer in the US, she said, where Moderna’s vaccine is not yet approved for children of any age.

During Thursday’s virtual investor meeting, Moderna said interim data from a mid-stage trial of their first influenza vaccine indicated it was safe and generated an immune response. The results suggest the experimental flu vaccine may be superior to existing vaccines against influenza A, the strain that accounts for the majority of cases in adults, officials said. The company also said it expects its combined influenza and Covid-19 vaccine to begin human testing this year..

“I think we’re going to come to market with a very high-efficacy flu vaccine,” Bancel said on Bloomberg TV.

-With the assistance of Tom Keene, Kailey Leinz and Cristin Flanagan.

This article was translated by Miriam Salazar

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