Moderna Inc said Monday it had begun a late-stage trial to evaluate the effectiveness of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, the first such study under the Trump administration’s program to accelerate development of measures against the new coronavirus.
The news of the study, which will evaluate the response to the vaccine in 30,000 adults who do not have respiratory disease, increased shares in Moderna, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, more than 7 percent in Wall Street trade at the last minute in the morning.
The federal government supports Moderna’s vaccine project with its Operation Warp Speed program. Moderna has received nearly $ 1 billion from the United States government, which has chosen it as one of the first to participate in large-scale human trials.
More than 150 coronavirus vaccine candidates are in various stages of development, with 23 prospects in human trials worldwide and Moderna’s candidate among the most advanced in development.
The large late-stage trial is designed to assess the safety of Moderna mRNA-1273 and determine whether the vaccine can prevent symptomatic COVID-19 after two doses. [Dado Ruvic/Reuters]“Having a safe and effective vaccine distributed by the end of 2020 is a difficult goal, but it is the right goal for the American people,” said director of the National Institutes of Health, Francis Collins, in an NIH statement announcing the start. of the study.
The large late-stage trial is designed to assess the safety of Moderna mRNA-1273 and determine whether the vaccine can prevent symptomatic COVID-19 after two doses.
The study also seeks to answer whether the vaccine can prevent death from COVID-19 and whether just one dose can prevent symptomatic COVID-19.
Test volunteers will receive two injections 28 days apart, with volunteers randomized to receive two injections of 100 micrograms mRNA-1273 or two injections of a saline placebo. The study is blind, so researchers and participants will not know who is assigned to which group.
The results of a small early-stage study published earlier this month showed that volunteers who received two doses of the Moderna vaccine had high levels of anti-virus antibodies that exceeded the average levels seen in people who had recovered from COVID. -19.
Moderna said it is on track to administer approximately 500 million doses a year, and possibly up to a billion doses a year, as of 2021.
Brokerage BMO Capital Markets said a U.S. supply deal with Moderna for its vaccine candidate is inevitable, adding that there will likely be deals with other governments as well.
SOURCE:
Reuters news agency
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