Moderna Inc. MRNA, +0.92% said late Tuesday it has completed its submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the emergency-use authorization for its experimental bivalent COVID-19 booster for those who are 18 years old or older. The new shot targets the original strain of the virus as well as the BA.4 and BA.5 strains, thought to be the prevalent ones in the U.S. and other countries. Pfizer Inc. PFE, -1.82% and BioNTech SE BNTX, -0.71% said Monday they had completed their submission for a booster available for people 12 and older. Moderna’s booster “may offer higher, broader, and more durable protection against COVID-19 compared to the currently authorized booster,” Moderna Chief Executive Stéphane Bancel said in a statement. The company has “rapidly” scaled manufacturing of the booster to be ready, if authorized, to deliver doses in September, it said. Shares of Moderna were flat in the extended session Tuesday after ending the regular trading day up 0.9%.
