TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo Co said on Tuesday its mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine had reached its primary endpoint in a trial of the shot as a booster.

In a trial of about 5,000 Japanese adults, those who had received the vaccine, known as DS-5670, developed levels of COVID-neutralising antibodies that were as good as or better than those of people who had had other mRNA shots, the company said in a release.

Based on the results, Daiichi Sankyo will file a new-drug application to regulators in January 2023.

Approval would give Japan a home-grown source for mRNA vaccines, which have made up the bulk of its COVID inoculations to date.

Japan has relied on imports of shots developed by U.S.-based drugmakers Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc.

Daiichi Sankyo’s shares jumped on the news, rising 3.3% versus a 0.1% advance in the benchmark Nikkei gauge.

(Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by Bradley Perrett)

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