Moderna says its Covid-19 vaccine shows promising results in an early stage clinical trial of elderly patients, according to the biotech firm's announcement.
Moderna tested its Covid-19 vaccine on 10 adults between the ages of 56 and 70 and 10 elderly adults aged 71 and older. Each respondent took two 100 microgram doses of the vaccine 28 days apart.
The respondents developed neutralizing antibodies, which researchers think are important to establish immunity to the virus, and T-cells, Moderna said regarding its results, which have not yet been released in a peer-reviewed journal.
Moreover, the antibodies that were developed were higher than those seen in patients who have recovered from Covid-19.
The coronavirus vaccine from Moderna also seems to be well tolerated, without serious adverse events reported, according to the company. The symptoms experienced by patients were chills, fatigue, headaches, and pain at the injection site, but most of them got resolved within two days.
Shares of Moderna increased by about 6% in intraday trading Wednesday. The company will conduct a conference call at 4:30 p.m. ET to deliberate about the results.
Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine is one of several in development to fight the virus, which has infected more than 23.9 million people worldwide and led to 820,100 deaths, based on the data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are more than 170 vaccines being developed worldwide while at least 31 are in clinical trials. US health officials say returning to “normal” is not possible until there is a coronavirus vaccine.
Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine has genetic material called messenger RNA, or mRNA, which scientists hope empowers the immune system to fight the virus. In May, the company announced preliminary data that revealed that the vaccine produced antibodies in 45 healthy adults.
Efficacy
White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said he hopes the Moderna vaccine will have an efficacy of at least 60% or even higher.
“Obviously, we would like to see it much, much higher. But 60% is the standard that you do for the cutoff. That’s not unusual,” he said. “I would like to see the highest percentage that we could possibly get.”
The percentage means that on average, the coronavirus vaccine could reduce a person’s risk of Covid-19 by 60%.
The Moderna vaccine started the phase-three human trial on Monday. It employs messenger ribonucleic acid, or mRNA molecules, to produce an immune response to fight the virus. Scientists aim to see the mRNA, which relays genetic instructions from DNA, training the immune system to detect and destroy the virus. mRNA technology has reportedly never been used to create a successful vaccine before.
Dr. Fauci also said that he is not “not particularly concerned” about the safety risk of the Moderna vaccine, despite the use of a new technology to fight the virus.
“It’s a novel technology. We are certainly aware of the fact that there’s not as much experience with this type of platform as there are with other standards,” Dr. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the press on a conference call alongside National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins.
