(AOF) – An updated version of the Covid-19 vaccine made by Moderna, which targets the original virus and the Omicron variant, was approved today by the UK regulatory authority, Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for booster doses in adults.
The MHRA’s decision is based on data from a clinical trial which showed that a boost with the bivalent Moderna vaccine elicited a strong immune response against both Omicron (BA.1) and the original 2020 strain. The exploratory study also found that the bivalent vaccine generated a good immune response against the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants.
Safety monitoring showed that the side effects observed were the same as those seen for the initial Moderna booster dose and were generally mild and self-resolving. No serious security issues have been identified.
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An inevitable race for new blockbusters
The patent for Merck’s star product, the cancer drug Keytruda, which accounts for more than 35% of its sales, expires in 2028. Despite the loss, since 2019, of the patents for its three star products (Avastin, Herceptine, Rituxan) Roche was able to renew its portfolio by bringing new molecules to market. However, the discovery and launch of new drugs are increasingly expensive. AstraZeneca spends about $6 billion a year on R&D in a pharmaceutical industry where the life of a patent only lasts ten to fifteen years. This leads laboratories to withdraw from certain activities. Thus J&J, Pfizer, GSK and, no doubt, Novartis soon prefer to refocus on specialty drugs and abandon any ancillary activity.