This is a victory for Moderna as it seeks to establish itself beyond COVID-19 with a mpox outbreak that is escalating in Africa.

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The published peer-reviewed study in the Cell journal is the first to compare its already-licensed shot, the Bavarian Nordic’s modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vaccine marketed under the brand names Jynneos, Imvamune, and Imvanex, to an mRNA vaccine in nonhuman primates, according to Moderna virology researcher and author Alec Freyn, forbes.com reported.

To compare the two shots, scientists from Moderna, the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases or USAMRIID, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases or NIAID, and Boston University administered each vaccine to six macaques and then exposed them to a lethal dose of the virus eight weeks later.

They were constantly observed for their clinical status and blood profile for a further one month.

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Every aim of the macaques is immunized with Bavarian Nordic’s MVA shot. The experimental Moderna’s shot, mRNA-1769, remained unaffected by the trial. In contrast, five of the six unimmunized macaques died from the disease, according to the study, and the Moderna group had more levels of antibodies prominent in blood tests, indicative of a robust immune response.

Besides stopping fatal infections, Moderna’s experimental vaccine lessened the severity of the illnesses compared to the authorized shot – mRNA-immunized macaques developed a maximum of 54 mpox skin lesions compared to 607 in the Bavarian vaccinated group and 1,448 in the unvaccinated group – and shortened the disease duration by over ten days, forbes.com reported.

The amount of mpox virus detected in both the blood and throat swabs was lower in the mRNA group, meaning that Moderna’s vaccine may also help prevent virus transmission.

According to senior author Jay Hooper, a virologist at USAMRIID, “With the mRNA technology, we’re able to produce a vaccine that gives quite potent responses with a very tolerable safety profile,” while adding that an mRNA shot could be helpful in controlling the disease spreading without any safety issues, and which prevent widespread usage of some other vaccines used for mpox, such as Emergent BioSolutions’ smallpox shot ACAM2000.

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