Proactive Investors - An updated COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech has been approved by the UK medical regulator, amid a rise in new variants and subvariants of the virus.
The new Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine targeting the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant, which was approved in the European Union last week, was approved by the UK Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on Tuesday, to be given to anyone aged six months or above.
The vaccine has been adapted from the original approved during the pandemic.
"All approved adapted COVID-19 vaccines help to improve the protection obtained from earlier doses of the vaccine and help give longer-term protection against getting seriously ill from COVID-19," the regulator said.
The UK government plans to offer mRNA vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) this autumn, with private sales of booster shots also to be allowed for those no longer eligible for free NHS vaccinations.
Moderna and Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) have also created single-subvariant versions of their COVID-19 shot that target only the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant, like that approved for Pfizer.
The US is expected to deploy Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax's vaccines based on XBB.1.5 being the most dominant variant around the world earlier this year.
Last month, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was reported to be close to making a decision about which strain to target in updated vaccines that will be available in mid-to-late September.
This comes as the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) identified a different, highly mutated, BA.2.86 variant, nicknamed 'Pirola', which it said may be more capable of causing infection in people who previously had COVID-19 or were vaccinated with previous vaccines.
Vaccine maker Moderna Therapeutics Inc flagged on Wednesday that clinical trials of its updated COVID-19 vaccine showed an 8.7 to 11-fold increase in neutralizing antibodies against circulating variants, including BA.2.86, EG.5, and FL.1.5.1 variants.
"With governments accelerating the timing of COVID-19 vaccination campaigns due to the potential risk of BA.2.86, Moderna has shared this data with regulators and is ready to supply its updated COVID-19 vaccine pending regulatory approval," it said.
The BA.2.86 variant has more than 30 mutations compared to prior Omicron strains.