In anticipation of a new surge of COVID-19 infections later this year, the FDA recommends that COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers develop bivalent booster vaccines that contain the BA.4/BA.5 Omicron subvariants.
The FDA is asking COVID-19 vaccine makers to test and produce boosters that target both the original and new BA.4/BA.5 strains of the virus by fall.
Shares of the German coronavirus vaccine developer BioNTech (NASDAQ: BNTX) have climbed by more than 5.6% as of 12:07 p.m. ET on Thursday due to news released Wednesday evening that the U.S. government had signed a new supply agreement for 105 million doses of its Comirnaty jab. The company and its collaborator, Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), will be paid $3.2 billion when the government receives the doses it ordered, and the deal also includes the option to purchase another 195 million doses if needed. The supply agreement also implies a price per dose that's 27% higher than what was negotiated in prior agreements.