need to hurry up me ducks15 Jul 2020 00:05
HEALTH AND SCIENCE
Moderna shares jump as much as 16% after company says its coronavirus vaccine trial produced ‘robust’ immune response
PUBLISHED TUE, JUL 14 20205:00 PM EDTUPDATED 15 MIN AGO
Berkeley Lovelace Jr.
@BERKELEYJR
KEY POINTS
Moderna’s potential vaccine to prevent Covid-19 produced neutralizing antibodies in all 45 patients in its early stage human trial, according to newly released data.
The findings provide more promising data that the vaccine may give some protection against the coronavirus.
The vaccine by Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Moderna Inc., generated antibodies similar to those seen in people who have recovered from COVID-19 in a study volunteers who were given either a low or medium dose.
The vaccine by Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Moderna Inc., generated antibodies similar to those seen in people who have recovered from COVID-19 in a study volunteers who were given either a low or medium dose.
Ted S. Warren | AP
Moderna’s shares soared after the company said its potential vaccine to prevent Covid-19 produced a “robust” immune response in all 45 patients in its early stage human trial, according to newly released data published Tuesday evening in the peer-reviewed New England Journal of Medicine.
Moderna’s stock rose more than 16% in after-hours trading on the news.
All 45 patients produced neutralizing antibodies, which scientists believe is important for building immunity and provided more promising data that the vaccine may give some protection against the coronavirus. In the trial, each participant received a 25, 100 or 250 microgram dose, with 15 people in each dose group. Participants received two doses of the potential vaccine.
After two vaccinations, the vaccine elicited a “robust” immune response in all participants in all dose cohorts, Moderna said. The company said the levels of neutralizing antibodies in patients in the high dose group were fourfold higher than in recovered Covid-19 patients.
“These Phase 1 data demonstrate that vaccination with mRNA-1273 elicits a robust immune response across all dose levels and clearly support the choice of 100 µg in a prime and boost regimen as the optimal dose for the Phase 3 study,” Moderna’s chief medical officer, Tal Zaks, said in a statement. “We look forward to beginning our Phase 3 study of mRNA-1273 this month to demonstrate our vaccine’s ability to significantly reduce the risk of COVID-19 disease.”
In May, the company had released preliminary information from its early stage trial, but it lacked all of its data and it hadn’t been peer-reviewed yet.
Moderna said the vaccine was generally well-tolerated, but more than half of the participants reported mild or moderate symptoms such as fatigue, muscle aches or pain at the injection site.
Evaluation of the durability of immune responses is ongoing, Moderna said, and participants will be followed for one year after the second vaccination.
The effort by Moderna is one of several
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