Combination vaccine against flu and COVID to appear – DW – 04.07.2024

The pharmaceutical company Moderna announced in late June that one vaccine, called mRNA-1083, protects people against both SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses more effectively than vaccines targeting either virus, a report published on the Nature website.

Moderna, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, announced in early June that it had successfully completed a phase 3 clinical trial of the drug, which, like the company’s pioneering COVID-19 vaccines, is based on mRNA. In a statement to investors, Moderna said the vaccine was more effective at providing immunity to adults over 50 than competing flu and COVID-19 vaccines.

RNA vaccines (or messenger RNA) are vaccines that use ribonucleic acid to develop an immune response.

Moderna plans to apply for approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to sell the vaccine. Moderna President Stephen Hoge said the drug company hopes to launch a combination vaccine for the fall respiratory season in 2025. “If not 2025, then 2026,” he said.

RNA effect

Combination vaccines can be very useful for public health, but they are typically slow and expensive to develop. Moderna’s early success shows that RNA can help overcome some of these challenges, says James Taventiran, a clinical immunologist at the University of Cambridge in the U.K. “It’s a great example of why this technology is exciting,” he says, adding that combination vaccines using mRNA are “just the beginning” of RNA technology.

mRNA vaccines inject mRNA into cells to make copies of antigens that the immune system should recognize. So instead of making a bunch of different components, these types of vaccines simply wrap a set of instructions in a layer of lipids and then send them out into the body for cells to make their own antigens.

For most people, the FDA’s approval of Moderna’s vaccine “is a trip to the drugstore,” says Drew Weissman, an immunologist at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. “One shot will be enough to protect against both the flu and COVID.” Overall, the development of combination mRNA vaccines demonstrates “that RNA has a positive future,” he says. “It’s not just a coincidence.”

Eric Elola, information provided by Nature and Reuters.