MRNA

The Biden administration said it would spend $1.74 billion to buy 66 million doses of Moderna Inc.’s updated Covid-19 vaccine, as well as the option to purchase up to 234 million additional doses, as part of a fall booster campaign. The deal Friday, which follows an agreement to buy 105 million doses of updated vaccines from Pfizer Inc. and partner BioNTech SE, is expected to give the federal…

Moderna Inc. said it is developing two potential Covid-19 booster shots targeting different Omicron subvariants, citing differences in market preferences among the U.S. and other countries. The Cambridge, Mass., company said Monday it has completed requests for regulatory authorization of one of its new booster shots in the European Union, the U.K. and Australia. The company expects to complete regulatory filings elsewhere this week. In these…

Two and a half years into the COVID pandemic, the numbers are grim. While 80% of people living in the richest countries on earth have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine, the corresponding figure for those in the poorest countries is 18%. The loss of life was incalculable, literally: no one is sure how many people have died from COVID. It could be about six million, the formal death toll attributed to the virus, or nearly 15 million, as estimated by World Health Organization’s study of “excess deaths” (unusually…

Scientists have developed a new technique for imaging mRNA molecules in the brains of living mice. The research reveals new insights into how memories are formed and stored in the brain and could allow scientists to learn more about diseases such as Alzheimer's in the future.The paper is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).There is still a lot of mystery surrounding the process of how memory is physically created and stored in the brain. It is well known that mRNA a type of RNA involved…

Governments, drugmakers and vaccination sites are discarding tens of millions of unused Covid-19 vaccine doses amid sagging demand, a sharp reversal from the early days of the mass-vaccination campaign, when doses were scarce.Vaccine manufacturer Moderna Inc. recently discarded about 30 million doses of its Covid-19 shot after failing to find takers, while pharmacies and clinics have had to throw out unused doses from multi-dose vials from Moderna and Pfizer Inc.…

Gennova Biopharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Emcure Pharmaceuticals, on Wednesday announced that its mRNA vaccine Gemcovac-19 against covid-19 has received emergency use authorization (EUA) from Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).…

Advisers to U.S. health regulators are set to meet Tuesday to consider whether and how Covid-19 vaccines should be updated to better target circulating variants of the coronavirus, in preparation for a fall booster-shot campaign.The advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration, which includes doctors and public-health specialists, is expected to vote later in the day on whether to recommend updating Covid-19 vaccines to target the Omicron variant. Advisers to U.S. health regulators are set to meet Tuesday to…

A Food and Drug Administration committee will meet Tuesday to discuss how to move forward with the next generation of vaccines ahead of a booster campaign this fall. Paying for them is another matter.Congress has so far failed to approve additional funding for the shots—bad news for the U.S. population at large, but not bad at all for vaccine makers. They will just charge higher prices in the private market. The White House already is preparing to ration its vaccine supply to the most vulnerable Americans, according to…

Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE vaccines modified to target the Omicron variant produced a significantly larger immune response than the companies’ currently available vaccine in a study, they said.A modified booster shot targeting Omicron specifically increased neutralizing antibody levels 13.5 to 19.6 times higher than the current shot in study volunteers a month after administration, depending on the dose, the companies said Saturday. Pfizer Inc. and BioNTechSE vaccines modified to target the Omicron variant produced a…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended use of Moderna Inc.’s Covid-19 vaccine in children ages 6 to 17 years.The CDC’s move on Friday means the youths, who have been able to get the Covid-19 vaccine made by Pfizer Inc. and its partner BioNTech SE, will also have the choice of Moderna’s shot. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended use of ModernaInc.’s Covid-19 vaccine in children ages 6 to 17 years.The CDC’s move on Friday means the youths, who have been able to get the Covid-19…