Moderna Inc shares fell 7% on Thursday after medical news site STAT reported a delay in a large trial testing the possible biotech coronavirus vaccine as the company makes changes to its study plan. . The late-stage trial to assess the Moderna vaccine candidate in 30,000 volunteers was expected to start next week, but there is no clarity on how long the delay will last, according to the report https://www.statnews.com/2020/ 02/07 / trial-of-modern-covid-19-vaccine-delayed-researchers-say-but-july-start-still-possible, he said.
Changes in the study plan are common and the company still has a goal of starting the test in July, according to the report.
Moderna reiterated that its testing will begin this month and that the company has worked with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on its study plan.
“We hope to be the first to begin a Phase 3 trial,” the company said in a statement.
Companies like Pfizer and AstraZeneca Plc are competing to develop a vaccine against COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus that has killed 516,370 worldwide, according to a Reuters count.
“The latest in US testing is an experimental vaccine from the NIH Vaccine Research Center in association with Moderna,” NIH Director Francis Collins said at the Senate Appropriations hearing Thursday. .
“This month we will seek to enroll 30,000 volunteers with the expected results in a few months.”
Moderna’s shares were trading at $ 57.61. The stock is up more than 200% so far in 2020.
(Report by Vishwadha Chander in Bangalore; Shinjini Ganguli and Maju Samuel edition)
