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Severe and Asymptomatic Data Could Give Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine Slight Edge Over Pfizer’s

 
• By Sarah Karlin-Smith

Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine looks better than Pfizer/BioNTech’s at preventing severe disease and like it may offer some benefit in preventing asymptomatic infections, but these advantages may be short-lived and hard to capitalize on due to supply limitations.  

Moderna logo and syringe (Alex Gottschalk/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
• Source: Alex Gottschalk/DeFodi Images via Getty Images

Moderna, Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine will head into its 17 December US Food and Drug Administration advisory committee review with more solid data on its impact on severe disease than competitor Pfizer Inc./BioNTech SE’s had when that vaccine went in front of the same committee last week. Moderna also has some preliminary data on its vaccine’s ability to prevent transmission of the virus, of which Pfizer had none.

With an overall similar efficacy and safety profile to Pfizer’s product, Moderna is all but guaranteed to receive the second emergency use authorization for a COVID-19 vaccine in the US, despite some late-breaking data that may suggest slightly lower efficacy in older patients. (See sidebar

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