Modern in Cambridge, MA, shown on February 28, 2020.
David L. Ryan | The Boston Globe via Getty Images
A Moderna board member resigned to avoid any “potential or even apparent conflict of interest” during the company’s phase three trial for its potential coronavirus vaccine, the company announced Thursday.
Dr. Elizabeth “Betsy” Nabel is leaving immediately after serving on the company’s board of directors for five years, Moderna said in a statement. Nabel is president of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, which is one of 89 clinical trial sites participating in Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate phase three trial.
“In the context of the start of the phase 3 trial of 30,000 participants for the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine candidate, and the final preparation of Brigham and Women’s Hospital as a site to enroll up to 300-500 trial participants, we have accepted Betsy’s resignation from great caution to avoid any potential or even apparent conflict of interest on her or Moderna’s behalf, “the company said in a statement.
Moderna began its human trials in advanced stages on Monday in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The company said it is on track to deliver between 500 million and 1 billion doses per year starting next year.
On Thursday, senior administration officials from the US Department of Health and Human Services said in a conference call that Moderna and competing drug maker Pfizer, which began a phase three trial on Monday for its leading candidate for the vaccine, “several hundred people” have already been vaccinated within the first few days.
Some of Moderna’s top executives have come under scrutiny for selling millions of shares so far this year. While the transactions were pre-scheduled, the timing and volume of sales have left shareholders alarmed as the biotech company searches for a vaccine.
Moderna said this week that it received an additional $ 472 million from the United States government to support the development of its potential coronavirus vaccine. The company received $ 483 million from the federal agency in April.
– CNBC’s Berkeley Lovelace Jr. contributed to this report.
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