BioNTech says it could produce and ship an updated version of its vaccine within 100 days. This, if the new variant of Covid detected in southern Africa is found to evade existing immunity.
The company says it will know in two weeks if its current vaccine is likely to be effective enough against variant B.1.1.529
The biotech company is already investigating whether the vaccine it developed with Pfizer works well against the variant, called Omicron. Which has caused concern due to its high number of mutations and initial suggestions that it could be transmitting more quickly.
The company says it will know in two weeks if its current vaccine is likely to be effective enough against the B.1.1.529 variant. This, based on laboratory experiments.
If necessary, BioNTech said it is prepared to modify its vaccine to more closely match the new variant.
“Pfizer and BioNTech took steps months ago to be able to tailor the mRNA vaccine in six weeks and ship the initial batches in 100 days in the event of an escape variant,” the company said in a statement.
Other vaccine teams also confirmed Friday that they were testing the effectiveness of their vaccines against the new variant.
Other vaccine teams, including Johnson & Johnson, also confirmed Friday that they were testing the effectiveness of their vaccines against the new variant. This, to assess whether updates were likely to be required.
AstraZeneca said it is already conducting research in Botswana and Eswatini, where the variant has been identified. To collect real-world data on how the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine performs against the new variant.
At the moment, concerns about a decrease in protection are theoretical and based on the large number of mutations. Double those observed in Delta, in the peak protein targeted by the vaccine.
The human immune system produces a variety of antibodies that target several different places on the peak, so even if you change the peak a little, a vaccine will still work well.
However, in B.1.1.529, almost all the sites that antibodies go to are different, so scientists are particularly concerned that this version could become an “escape variant”.
MRNA-based vaccines, such as the BioNTech / Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, are believed to be the easiest to modify
Professor Wendy Barclay, a virologist at Imperial College London, said the emergence of the variant made it even more crucial for people to access existing vaccines and have a second and third dose.
“Sometimes the amount [de anticuerpos] it can compensate for the lack of compatibility, ”he said. “That is the only vaccine that we have available at the moment. We have to make that work the best we can. “
MRNA-based vaccines, such as the BioNTech / Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, are believed to be the easiest to modify. But most companies have been preparing for the eventuality of a suspected escape variant and have ambitious deadlines to distribute an updated vaccine, if it is deemed medically necessary and commercially viable.
So far, vaccines have held up well against new variants
Until now, vaccines have held up well against newer variants, such as Beta and Delta, but the emergence of these variants served as practice.
BioNTech / Pfizer and AstraZeneca are already conducting clinical trials on modified vaccines and are discussing with regulators what new evidence would be needed to support their approval.
“Pfizer and BioNTech … have begun clinical trials with variant-specific vaccines (Alpha and Delta) to collect safety and tolerability data that can be provided to regulators as part of model studies in the event of a variant-specific vaccine needed” , the companies said in a statement.
Johnson & Johnson, which has developed a single-shot Covid vaccine and sells it non-profit, such as AstraZeneca, said: “We are closely monitoring emerging new strains of the Covid-19 virus with variations in Sars-CoV -2 spike protein and we are already testing the efficacy of our vaccine against the new rapidly spreading variant that was first detected in southern Africa.
“We stand firm in the benefit that the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine will bring to millions of people around the world.”
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