- A trial has been launched to assess the antibody response of the third dose of COVID-19 messenger RNA vaccine in kidney transplant recipients who did not respond to two doses of the Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA) or Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) - BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX) COVID-19 vaccine.
- The Phase 2 trial is funded by the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
- The pilot study, called COVID Protection After Transplant (CPAT), will enroll up to 200 people aged 18 years or older who received a kidney transplant one year or more before enrollment and have had no recent organ rejection or change in immunosuppression.
- All participants will have had a low or no detectable antibody response to two doses of an mRNA vaccine.
- The lifelong immunosuppressive therapy that organ transplant recipients must take to prevent organ rejection blunts their immune response to pathogens and vaccines.
- Research has shown that many organ transplant recipients do not develop antibodies against the COVID-19 vaccine regimen.
- The purpose of the new study is to determine whether a third dose of one of the mRNA COVID-19 shots could overcome this problem for at least some kidney transplant recipients.
- The study team will follow participants for one year after enrollment. Preliminary results are expected in September 2021.
- Price Action: MRNA stock is down 2.9% at $470.52, BNTX stock is down 5.3% at $423.69, while PFE shares are up 4.4% at $48.01 during the market session on the last check Tuesday.
- Photo by Johaehn from Pixabay
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