FDA Panel Chooses JN.1 Subvariant for Fall COVID Vaccines

The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) expert advisory panel voted unanimously Wednesday in favor of selecting the JN.1 COVID-19 subvariant to be targeted in the next round of COVID-19 vaccines this fall.

The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) was asked whether it would recommend a monovalent vaccine targeting the JN.1 omicron subvariant for the 2024-2024 COVID vaccines. All 16 voting members voted in favor of selecting this strain for the fall.

The JN.1 subvariant is no longer the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the US, with the most recent surveillance data indicating that it represents less than 10% of cases. Current projections estimate that the KP.2 subvariant, from the FLiRT family of subvariants, is the predominant strain in the U.S.

However, genomic surveillance data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not been updated in more than a week.

Strain selection for annual vaccines is not necessarily based on which strain will be most dominant by the time updated vaccines are distributed. The goal is to select a strain that is sufficiently related to whatever strain is dominant in the country at that time to provide strong protection.

Although the XBB subvariant lineage was chosen for vaccines last year, the EG.5 and JN.1 subvariants gained dominance after vaccines became available.

“Our current data suggests that a new JN.1 or KP.2 variant vaccine will protect against JN.1, KP.2, KP.3 and other JN.1 subvariants that are now co-circulating,” a Moderna representative said in a statement . presentation to VRBPAC.

“From my perspective, I think it’s very difficult, very difficult to predict what’s going to happen and where things are going to go,” VRBPAC member Sarah Meyer said after the vote.
“So I see a little [a] reason with the thought that JN.1 is further up the tree. And so, if we had to guess, we would have to choose, this seems like an appropriate option.”

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story