Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 27, 2026
3 min readLast updated: April 2, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleEurope’s medicines regulator (EMA) has recommended marketing authorisation for Moderna’s mCombriax, a single mRNA shot for adults 50+ that targets both COVID-19 and seasonal influenza—the first combo vaccine of its kind to reach this stage in the EU. The European Commission typically finalises an EU
By Bhanvi Satija
Feb 27 (Reuters) - Europe's medicines regulator recommended approval for Moderna's COVID and flu combination vaccine on Friday, putting it on track to become the first single shot to protect people aged 50 and older against both illnesses.
Currently people need two separate shots to protect them against COVID-19 and influenza and the vaccines are updated regularly to match the viral strains in circulation.
Moderna is banking on the COVID-flu combination shot and also an mRNA-based flu shot to help it return to revenue growth as demand for COVID vaccines has collapsed in the years after the pandemic.
It hopes international markets will drive revenue growth this year, as anti-vaccine activist U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr has disrupted the domestic market.
Moderna said its combination shot, mCombriax, could be available in certain EU markets for the 2026-2027 season.
The company expects the shot to be more widely available across the region in 2027, when the market reopens as current EU vaccine contracts expire.
MODERNA SHARES HAVE PLUNGED FROM 2021 HIGHS
Shares of the biotech, which were flat in U.S. premarket hours on Friday, have declined by nearly 90% from 2021 highs.
Last year, Moderna withdrew its U.S. application for its COVID-flu combination shot to wait for efficacy data from a late-stage trial of its influenza vaccine.
Earlier this month, the company said it was waiting for guidance from the Food and Drug Administration on refiling the application.
U.S. regulators initially refused to review a separate mRNA-based flu vaccine from the company, then reversed course a week later after Moderna amended its application.
EMA's recommendation on Friday was based on data from a study of 8,000 participants that showed those who received mCombriax generated more antibodies than those who received separate shots against the viruses.
The study compared mCombriax with a combination of Moderna's COVID-19 shot Spikevax and traditional flu shots from GSK and Sanofi.
EMA also considered data from a study of a similar mRNA flu vaccine, in which mCombriax triggered an adequate immune response. The shot contains messenger RNA with instructions for making proteins found on some strains of the influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2.
EMA's recommendation will be reviewed by the European Commission, which will give the final sign off for marketing in the European Union. It was not clear how long that decision would take.
(Reporting by Sri Hari N S in Bengaluru and Bhanvi Satija in London; Editing by Vijay Kishore, Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Barbara Lewis)
The EMA recommended approval for Moderna’s COVID and flu combination vaccine, putting it on track to be a single shot for people aged 50 and older.
Moderna said the shot, mCombriax, could be available in certain EU markets for the 2026-2027 season and more widely across the region in 2027 as current EU contracts expire.
The recommendation was based on a study of 8,000 participants showing recipients generated more antibodies than those who received separate COVID-19 and influenza shots, plus data from a similar mRNA flu vaccine study showing an adequate immune response.
The study compared mCombriax with a combination of Moderna’s COVID-19 shot Spikevax and traditional flu shots from GSK and Sanofi.
The European Commission will review the EMA’s recommendation and give the final marketing sign-off for use in the European Union, though the timing of the decision was unclear.
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