Moderna Inc. shares ticked higher in the extended session Thursday afetr the biotech drug company said a study showed its COVID-19 vaccine held up against several variants of the virus that causes the disease.
The study was tested against SARS-CoV-2 variants that included alpha, beta, gamma, delta epsilon, and iota, ModernaMRNA,+1.58%said. While the patients given two doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine had some “waning in antibody levels,” the majority had enough antibodies to neutralize the virus at the six-month mark, the company said.
“These data support the durable efficacy of 93% seen with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine through six months,” said Stéphane Bancel, chief executive of Moderna, in a statement.
“We expect that these data and the growing body of real-world evidence will help inform health regulators’ approaches to how and when to administer additional boosting doses,” Bancel said.
Shares rose 0.7% after-hours, following a 1.6% rise in the regular session to close at $391.42. The stock is up 463% over the past 12 months, compared with a 32% gain on the S&P 500 indexSPX,+0.30%.