We’re nearing a potential solution to the coronavirus chaos.
Just yesterday, the University of Oxford said a steroid called dexamethasone could be the first treatment for reducing mortality in severely ill patients.
According to The New York Times, “The drug appears to reduce inflammation caused by the immune system, protecting the tissues. In the study, dexamethasone reduced deaths of patients on ventilators by one-third, and deaths of patients on oxygen by one-fifth.”
That’s not the only good news on the vaccine front.
Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel says there’s “high probability of success” with its vaccine.
“It works on MERS, Zika and CMV and so on. When you have the right sequence … you will get neutralizing antibodies,” he told CNBC.
And, according to the company there are top reasons why its vaccine could be a success. For one, messenger RNA can deliver genetic instructions to body cells to make proteins, reports CNBC. Two, this is now the tenth vaccine the company has brought to human trials.
And three, says CNBC, the company’s previous work on MERS was caused by the same virus in the same coronavirus family, as COVID.
Right now, Moderna (MRNA) is advancing a late-stage development of its coronavirus vaccine. Better, it just finalized the Phase 3 study protocol based on feedback from US FDA.
The randomized, 1:1 placebo-controlled trial is expected to include approximately 30,000 participants enrolled in the U.S. and is expected to be conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Plus, Moderna has completed manufacture of vaccine required to start the Phase 3 study, and expects dosing in the Phase 3 study to begin in July.
According to the company, “With the Phase 3 dose being finalized at 100 μg, the Company remains on track to be able to deliver approximately 500 million doses per year, and possibly up to 1 billion doses per year, beginning in 2021 from the Company’s internal U.S. manufacturing site and strategic collaboration with Lonza.”
The post The World May Finally Have a COVID-19 Treatment appeared first on Morningology.
