NEW YORK: Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE said on Tuesday they started a clinical trial to test a new version of their vaccine specifically designed to target the COVID-19 omicron variant, which has eluded some of the protection provided by the original two-dose vaccine regimen.
The companies plan to test the immune response generated by the omicron-based vaccine both as a three-shot regimen in unvaccinated people and as a booster shot for people who already received two doses of their original vaccine.
They are also testing a fourth dose of the current vaccine against a fourth dose of the omicron-based vaccine in people who received their third dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine three to six months earlier.
The companies plan to study the safety and tolerability of the shots in the more than 1,400 people who will be enrolled in the trial.
“While current research and real-world data show that boosters continue to provide a high level of protection against severe disease and hospitalization with omicron, we recognize the need to be prepared in the event this protection wanes over time and to potentially help address omicron and new variants in the future,” Pfizer’s head of vaccine research and development, Kathrin Jansen, said in a statement.
Pfizer has said that a two-dose regimen of the original vaccine may not be sufficient to protect against infection from the omicron variant, and that protection against hospitalizations and deaths may be waning.
Still, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says a third dose of an mRNA vaccine like the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has provided 90 percent protection against hospitalization due to COVID-19.
Some countries have already started offering additional booster doses, but a recent study from Israel showed that while a fourth dose of an mRNA vaccine boosted antibodies, the level was not high enough to prevent infection by the omicron variant.
BioNTech Chief Executive Ugur Sahin told Reuters in November that regulators would not likely require testing of an omicron-based vaccine on humans because it and Pfizer had already created versions of their established vaccine to target the earlier Alpha and Delta variants, with clinical trials continuing.
However, the debate appears to have shifted as the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said in a statement on Friday that international regulators now preferred clinical studies to be carried out before approval of a new vaccine.
These studies should show that neutralising antibodies in the blood of participants are superior to those elicited by current vaccines. Another desired feature of an upgraded vaccine would be for it to also protect against other variants of concern, the EMA said.
The omicron variant has replaced the Delta variant as the dominant lineage in many parts of the world and omicron itself is now splitting into different subforms, one of which, BA2, is causing particular concern.
Pfizer and BioNTech launch trial of omicron-targeted COVID-19 vaccine
https://arab.news/j5nyt
Pfizer and BioNTech launch trial of omicron-targeted COVID-19 vaccine
- The companies plan to study the safety and tolerability of the shots in the more than 1,400 people who will be enrolled in the trial
Philippines eyes closer cooperation on advanced defense tech with UAE
- Philippine-UAE defense agreement is Manila’s first with a Gulf country
- Philippines says new deal will also help modernize the Philippine military
MANILA: The Philippines is seeking stronger cooperation with the UAE on advanced defense technologies under their new defense pact — its first such deal with a Gulf country — the Department of National Defense said on Friday.
The Memorandum of Understanding on Defense Cooperation was signed during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s visit to Abu Dhabi earlier this week, which also saw the Philippines and the UAE signing a comprehensive economic partnership agreement, marking Manila’s first free trade pact with a Middle Eastern nation.
The Philippines-UAE defense agreement “seeks to deepen cooperation on advanced defense technologies and strengthen the security relations” between the two countries, DND spokesperson Assistant Secretary Arsenio Andolong said in a statement.
The MoU “will serve as a platform for collaboration on unmanned aerial systems, electronic warfare, and naval systems, in line with the ongoing capability development and modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” he added.
It is also expected to further military relations through education and training, intelligence and security sharing, and cooperation in the fields of anti-terrorism, maritime security, and peacekeeping operations.
The UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has described security and defense as “very promising fields” in Philippine-UAE ties, pointing to Abu Dhabi being the location of Manila’s first defense attache office in the Middle East.
The UAE is the latest in a growing list of countries with defense and security deals with the Philippines, which also signed a new defense pact with Japan this week.
“I would argue that this is more significant than it looks on first read, precisely because it’s the Philippines’ first formal defense cooperation agreement with a Gulf state. It signals diversification,” Rikard Jalkebro, associate professor at the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy in Abu Dhabi, told Arab News.
“Manila is widening its security partnerships beyond its traditional circles at a time when strategic pressure is rising in the South China Sea, and the global security environment is (volatile) across regions.”
Though the MoU is not an alliance and does not create mutual defense obligations, it provides a “framework for the practical stuff that matters,” including access, training pathways, procurement discussions and structured channels” for security cooperation, he added.
“For the UAE, the timing also makes sense, seeing that Abu Dhabi is no longer only a defense buyer; it’s increasingly a producer and exporter, particularly in areas like UAS (unmanned aerial systems) and enabling technologies. That opens a new lane for Manila to explore capability-building, technology transfer, and industry-to-industry links,” Jalkebro said.
The defense deal also matters geopolitically, as events in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific region have ripple effects on global stability and commerce.
“So, a Philippines–UAE defense framework can be read as a pragmatic hedge, strengthening resilience and options without formally taking sides,” Jalkebro said.
