Moderna: New COVID-19 Shot Produces Strong Immune Response Against Pirola

Moderna on Wednesday announced that its updated COVID-19 shot set to roll out this month works on the new, highly mutated variant BA.2.86, which has been nicknamed pirola.

The company said that its updated vaccine showed up to an 8.7-fold increase in neutralizing antibodies against pirola in clinical trial data.

"These results demonstrate that our updated COVID-19 vaccine generates a strong human immune response against the highly mutated BA.2.86 variant. Taken together with our previously communicated results showing a similarly effective response against EG.5 and FL.1.5.1 variants, these data confirm that our updated COVID-19 vaccine will continue to be an important tool for protection as we head into the fall vaccination season," Moderna President Stephen Hoge said in a statement. "Moderna will continue to rapidly assess global public health threats and is committed to leveraging our mRNA platform against COVID-19."