FDA advisory committee to meet April 6 to discuss COVID-19 boosters

A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee is scheduled to meet April 6 to discuss whether there is a need to authorize or approve COVID-19 booster doses in the future. The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee will also talk about creating a process for selecting SARS-CoV-2 virus strains to be included in future doses of the vaccines. (The same committee meets in the spring each year to select the flu strains that are used to make the flu vaccines for the following fall and winter season.) “Now is the time to discuss the need for future boosters as we aim to move forward safely, with COVID-19 becoming a virus like others such as influenza that we prepare for, protect against, and treat,” Dr. Peter Marks, the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in a news release. The FDA said the committee will not be taking a vote and will not discuss specific product applications. Moderna Inc. as well as BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc. have separately asked the regulator to allow fourth doses of their COVID-19 shots.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.