A researcher works in a laboratory at the headquarters of Moderna Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Tuesday, March 26, 2024.
Adam Glanzman | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Norovirus is raging across the United States this winter. modern There may be a vaccine soon.
Large Phase 3 trials of the vaccine are underway, with results expected later this year or as early as 2026. Moderna needs to observe a certain number of cases before it can analyze the data and determine how effective its vaccine is, placing a timeline on throughput. Doran Fink, clinical therapeutic area leader for gastrointestinal and bacterial pathogens at Moderna, said the 25,000-person study is recruiting early.
“I don’t know if this is directly attributable to the increased incidence of norovirus this season, but we’re obviously very interested in participating in this trial,” Fink said.
Norovirus is a nasty stomach bug that can cause vomiting and diarrhea. It is highly contagious and can easily spread in nursing homes and Day care centers and on cruise ships. It is usually a seasonal disease and is more common in the winter.
This winter has been particularly brutal. Number of norovirus tests doubled positive return According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the incidence rate in January was higher than the same period last year. norovirus Outbreak So far this quarter, as of Dec. 11, it was 36%, according to the CDC.
There is currently no vaccine for norovirus. Like the flu, there are many types of norovirus, making immunizing against them a challenge.
Moderna’s vaccine candidate targets three genotypes the company says typically cause most infections. It works by showing the immune system something that looks like norovirus but isn’t contagious, so the body can learn how to fight back when the real virus strikes.
The company’s vaccine candidate does not include the genotype responsible for most infections this year. Fink said one of the goals of the study is to see if the vaccine can protect against more types of norovirus than the shot specifically targets. He said mRNA vaccines have advantages because they can be easily adjusted if needed.
Moderna’s goal is not to completely prevent people from getting norovirus. That’s a high bar for any vaccine, Fink said, and it’s particularly difficult to achieve with norovirus because symptoms can appear within 12 to 24 hours of exposure. Instead, the goal is to make people feel less bad and keep them from needing to see a doctor or go to the hospital if they do become infected.
The company sees major opportunities in vaccinating older adults, who are particularly vulnerable to norovirus complications such as dehydration. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 900 Americans have died from complications from norovirus in the United States, most of them people 65 and older.
Moderna also considers health care workers, day care workers and other teachers who come into contact with young children as possible target groups, Chief Executive Stephane Bancel said last week at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference. He said people taking cruise ships is another possibility because the virus spreads easily on ships where people live in cramped quarters.
RBC analyst Luca Issi said investors question Moderna’s ability to make the shot a commercially viable opportunity – if, of course, the vaccine is effective. He believes the vaccine is primarily intended to protect people living in nursing homes or on cruise ships.
Currently, Moderna is not testing the vaccine in children, who are also susceptible to norovirus. But Dolan said if the shot works in adults, Moderna would be obligated to study it in children.
