August 5 - Moderna Inc said on Thursday its COVID - 19 shot was about 93% effective through six months following the first dose, showing hardly any change from the 94% efficacy reported in its original clinical trial.
That compares favorably to the results from Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE last week, where they said that vaccine's efficacy waned about 6% every two months, declining to around 84% six months after the second shot?
Both moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines are based on messenger RNA technology.
Our COVID -19 vaccine is showing an effective efficacy of 93% over six months, but recognize that the Delta variant is a significant new threat so we must remain vigilant, Moderna Chief Executive Stphane Bancel said.
However, a booster dose will be necessary before the winter season as antibody levels are likely to wane, Moderna said.
The comment comes as public health officials debate whether extra doses are safe, effective and necessary even while they grapple with the sporadic Delta variant of the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, Pfizer is planning to request authorization for a third shot later this month, and some countries like Israel have begun or plan to start administering shots to older or vulnerable people.
Separately, Moderna said its studies of three different booster candidates induced robust antibody responses against variants, including Gamma, Beta and Delta variants.
It said antibody levels uplifted in the following boost to those observated after the second shot.
Moderna signed vaccine contracts for this year worth $20 billion in sales and aims to produce between 800 million and 1 billion doses of vaccines.
It has agreements for $10 billion in 2022, with options for another $8 billion in sales and expects to produce between 2 billion and 3 billion doses next year.
However, the company has not been able to keep pace with the production of much larger rival Pfizer who expects to sell as many as 3 billion doses this year and raises estimates to 2021 sales-covid - 19 vaccine - 335 - business - 3051 - 3790 to top $33.5 billion.
Moderna's vaccine was approved for emergency use in adults in December in the United States and has since been authorized for emergency use in adults in more than 50 countries.
The company started the process of filing for full approval with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in June and expects to finish its submission in August.
It posted second-quarter sales of $4.4 billion, slightly above expectations of $4.2 billion from 10 analysts polled by Refinitiv. Its COVID shot is the firm's first authorized product and sales were just $67 million a year earlier.
Moderna earned $2.78 billion, or $6.46 a share, beating quarterly expectations of $5.96 a share.