The race is on for a coronavirus vaccine.
At the moment, over 4.58 million people have been infected and more than 309,184 have already died around the world. In the U.S. alone, there are 1.45 million cases. In Russia, the count is up to 272,043. In the UK, it’s up to 241,455. In Spain, 230,698. In Italy, 223,885.
However, there is good news – one of the top vaccine companies is exploding.
Moderna (MRNA) is racing to higher highs on news its vaccine produced COVID-19 antibodies in all 45 of its participants.
“These interim Phase 1 data, while early, demonstrate that vaccination with mRNA-1273 elicits an immune response of the magnitude caused by natural infection starting with a dose as low as 25 [micrograms],” Tal Zaks, the chief medical officer at Moderna said, as quoted by CNBC.
“When combined with the success in preventing viral replication in the lungs of a pre-clinical challenge model at a dose that elicited similar levels of neutralizing antibodies, these data substantiate our belief that mRNA-1273 has the potential to prevent COVID-19 disease and advance our ability to select a dose for pivotal trials,” he added.
If the company sees further success, Phase II trials will begin shortly.
Phase III could begin shortly after that with thousands of healthy volunteers. According to Bloomberg, “the mRNA technology being used by Moderna and several others relies on the body’s own cells to produce viral proteins. Once injected into the body, the RNA slips into human cells and tells them to make virus-like proteins, in this case the “spike” protein on the surface of the coronavirus. If the vaccine works, those proteins then trigger the body to generate protective antibodies.”
