Just when you thought you’d had enough COVID-19 jabs, NASDAQ-listed Moderna Therapeutics Inc., which has a market value of $US40 billion ($62.5 billion) is creating an all-in-one 'superjab' to protect against COVID and the flu.
The new vaccine could be available in Australia by 2026, with folks in the northern hemisphere to roll up their sleeves in 2025.
Another superjab will later include a vaccine for RSV – respiratory syncytial virus, which will then protect against the three main respiratory viruses that cause the most hospital admissions.
Melbourne will play a key role in the creation of the vaccine, with Moderna halfway through building a new factory in the city - part of a 10-year partnership with the Australian Government to produce mRNA vaccines locally to prepare for the next pandemic (whatever its pathogen may be).
Melbourne to manufacture Moderna vaccines
Moderna plans to manufacture its respiratory vaccines, including the so-called 'superjab', at its Melbourne facility. This development coincides with dwindling COVID-19 booster shot uptake, which has impacted Moderna's sales forecast for the current year.
In a recent trading update, Moderna revealed that it expects COVID-19 vaccine sales to range between US$6 billion and US$8 billion this year, a stark contrast to the US$18.4 billion generated in 2022.
This has prompted questions about the necessity of a 'superjab'.
Moderna president Stephen Hoge contends that the need remains, especially given the higher hospitalisation rates caused by COVID-19 compared to influenza.
“It’s really a bifurcated situation. COVID still causes more hospitalisation in every age group than flu,” he said. “There’s a large number of people who follow those sorts of public health recommendations and then there’s a large number that exercise their right not to.
“Only about 60 million people got the fall booster (last year) which compares with 150 million people who get the flu (vaccine in the US). The public health officials say everybody who gets a flu vaccine should get a COVID vaccine – we still need to probably double the number of people who choose to do that.”
CSL Limited, Australia's largest health company with a market value of A$130 billion, is also considering a 'superjab'. CSL recently secured a licensing agreement with Arcturus Therapeutics for its late-stage amplifying mRNA vaccine technology.
Moderna, however, remains the only firm to specify a potential launch date for such a vaccine.