Pfizer and BioNTech announce plans to test omicron-specific COVID-19 vaccine in adult trials

Vaccine makers Pfizer and BioNTech announced plans early Tuesday to test an omicron-specific COVID-19 vaccine in people.

The companies will run three simultaneous trials in adults ages 18-55 to determine if an omicron-specific vaccine is more effective than current shots.

The existing vaccine was developed to target the original or "ancestral" strain of COVID-19. While three shots appear to provide some protection against omicron, the vaccine, called Comirnaty, is not as effective as it was against earlier strains.

“This study is part of our science-based approach to develop a variant-based vaccine that achieves a similar level of protection against Omicron as it did with earlier variants but (with a) longer duration of protection,” BioNTech CEO and co-founder Uğur Şahin said in a statement. ...

ALSO SEE: BioNTech: watchdogs' requirements may defer planned launch of Omicron shot

FRANKFURT, Jan 25 (Reuters) - BioNTech (22UAy.DE) said it and partner Pfizer (PFE.N) may not be able to stick with their plan to launch an Omicron-targeting vaccine by the end of March, depending on how much clinical trial data regulators will require.

"Regulatory requirements are currently under discussion with the relevant authorities. Inclusion of clinical trial data in the regulatory filings may have an impact on the delivery of initial batches, currently expected to be ready by end of March," a spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday.

Pfizer and BioNTech said earlier they started a clinical trial to test a new version of their vaccine specifically designed to target the COVID-19 Omicron variant, which has eluded some of the protection provided by the original two-dose vaccine regimen. read more