A US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel of advisors has unanimously recommended that updated COVID-19 vaccines being developed for the autumn vaccination campaign target one of the currently circulating XBB variants.
The advisory committee on vaccines and related biological products (VRBPAC) voted 21 to 0 in favor of the monovalent XBB-lineage vaccinations and was generally in favor of vaccines that target the XBB.The 1.5 subvariant is favoured.
XBB.1.5, which is another descendant of the Omicron variant, has previously been described as the ‘most transmissible’ subvariant because the mutations it contains allow it to adhere to cells and replicate easily.
The variant accounted for nearly 40% of all COVID-19 cases in the US at the beginning June, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with the related XBB.1.16 and XBB.2.3 variants on the rise.
Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and Novavax have already started to develop vaccines targeting XBB.1.5 and other currently circulating subvariants.
Kena Swanson, Pfizer’s vice president for viral vaccines, outlined during the advisory meeting that the partners could produce COVID-19 vaccines that target the XBB.1.5 strain by the end of July, pending regulatory sign-off, while Moderna said it was prepared to supply a new variant-containing vaccine in time for autumn.
Selecting XBB.1.5 as the target strain would be particularly beneficial for Novavax as the biotech’s protein-based vaccine takes longer to manufacture than its rivals’ mRNA vaccines.
The FDA will now consider the panel’s advice as it works towards a final decision on strain selection.
