Moderna testing new COVID-19 vaccine as potential booster shot

Moderna Inc said on Monday it had dosed the first patients in an early-stage study of a new COVID-19 vaccine candidate for its potential evaluation as a booster shot.

The company said its new candidate, mRNA-1283, could potentially be stored in refrigerators instead of freezers, making it easier to distribute, especially in developing countries.

A nurse draws a Moderna coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 12, 2021. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

The early-stage study will assess the safety and immunogenicity of mRNA-1283 at three dose levels, and will be given to healthy adults either as a single dose or in two doses 28 days apart, the company said.

Last week, Moderna began dosing the first participants in a study testing its COVID-19 booster vaccine candidates.

(Reporting by Manojna Maddipatla and Vishwadha Chander in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Anil D’Silva)

U.S. airlines see recovery signs, United expects to end cash burn in March

American Airlines passenger planes crowd a runway where they are parked due to flight reductions to slow the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at Tulsa International Airport in Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. March 23, 2020. REUTERS/Nick Oxford

U.S. airlines pointed on Monday to concrete signs of an industry recovery as a slowing COVID-19 pandemic helps leisure bookings, and United Airlines said it expects to halt its cash burn in March.

“I do think we’re near the end of the virtual world,” United Chief Executive Scott Kirby said at a J.P. Morgan conference.

Kirby said he expects core cash burn to be positive in March. That is expected to continue after March, assuming the current bookings trajectory remains in place, he said.

Chicago-based United, which had been among the most pessimistic of the airlines heading into the pandemic a year ago, is the first to say it could hit the industry’s cash burn milestone.

Shares of United surged 7.1% to $60.30 in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways each said first-quarter revenue would decline at the low end of projections or less than previously forecast as vaccine rollouts accelerate and more people plan vacations or visits to friends and relatives

Delta CEO Ed Bastian, speaking at the same conference, said there are “real glimmers of hope” and that he was “cautiously optimistic” that the airline could halt its cash burn this spring.

Shares of Delta were up 3.6% on the NYSE while those of Southwest were up 1.3%. JetBlue’s stock gained 1.4% on the Nasdaq.

More than 1.3 million passengers were screened in U.S. airports on Friday and Sunday, according to Transportation Security Administration data, the highest number since the pandemic crushed air travel in 2020.

Delta, which said it will use cash for aircraft purchases in the second quarter, expects its first-quarter revenue decline to be at the low end of its forecast for a 60% to 65% decline from the same quarter in 2019, before the onset of the pandemic.

Southwest forecast lower cash burn in the first quarter on Monday and a lower decline in operating revenue for February and March than previously forecast.

JetBlue also forecast a slowing pace in its first-quarter revenue drop, projecting a decline of between 61% and 64%, compared with the same period in 2019. It had previously forecast a fall in revenue of 65% to 70%.

(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski and Sanjana Shivdas, Editing by Louise Heavens and Paul Simao)

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