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Moderna said Wednesday that using a new version of its Covid-19 vaccine as a booster led to a superior antibody response against the Omicron variant compared to its current shot. The company said it plans to submit its data to the Food and Drug Administration in the coming weeks and that it hopes that the new booster will be available in the late summer. (Herper, 6/8)

The study didn’t measure the efficacy of the modified booster shot—whether it actually reduces the risk of Covid-19 disease caused by Omicron. The company disclosed the results in a press release. The data haven’t been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal. Moderna’s modified, “bivalent” booster shot was designed to target in a single shot both the Omicron variant and the original coronavirus strain. The company’s original vaccine, Spikevax, was designed to target the original coronavirus, both as a two-dose primary series and as a booster shot. (Loftus, 6/8)

Moderna’s preliminary study results show people given the combination shot experienced a higher boost in omicron-fighting antibodies than if they just got a fourth dose of the original vaccine. “We believe strongly that this data supports an update of the vaccine,” Dr. Stephen Hoge, Moderna’s president, said Wednesday. (Neergaard, 6/8)

The new shot, called mRNA-1273.214, was tested in a Phase 2/3 clinical trial of 437 people at 50 micrograms — the same dosage given in the current booster shot. The new shot was generally well-tolerated, the company said, with side effects similar to those with a booster dose of its existing vaccine. Moderna has only announced the trial results in a news release; the data have not yet been made available to outside scientists for review. (Lovelace Jr., 6/8)