(Reuters) -The U.S. health regulator updated its strain recommendation for 2024-25 COVID-19 vaccines. It now advises manufacturers to consider targeting the KP.2 variant over the previously recommended JN.1 lineage.
The Food and Drug Administration updated its recommendation on Thursday. Moderna and Novavax have submitted applications to update fall 2024 vaccines with the JN.1 strain. This shift highlights ongoing efforts to align vaccine formulations with emerging variants.
Novavax had said its manufacturing is underway for a JN.1 vaccine and it cannot have a shot this fall for another strain.
The company applied for authorization on Friday, citing broad cross-neutralizing antibodies against KP.2 and KP.3 variants. They anticipate readiness with their JN.1 shot by mid-July.
Novavax was not immediately available for comment on the FDA’s preference for a KP.2 shot.
The FDA’s new advisory differs from recommendations of its own advisers and the European regulator and World Health Organization, all of which sought targeting the JN.1 strain with the updated vaccines.
However, FDA’s Peter Marks, during the advisory panel’s meeting earlier this month, had said he wanted to give people the choice of a KP.2-targeting vaccine, counting on the quick updates possible with messenger RNA shots from Moderna and Pfizer and its partner BioNTech.
“We always say we shouldn’t be chasing strains, but we’re paying an incredibly high premium for mRNA vaccines to be able to have the freshest vaccines,” Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, had then said.
Transitioning to the broader implications, targeting COVID vaccine KP.2 aligns with global efforts to mitigate the spread of new variants.
Ultimately, adapting vaccines to include KP.2 could bolster public health measures and contribute to a more effective pandemic response worldwide.
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