New COVID-19 Vaccine From Moderna Shows Promise In Small Clinical Trial

The Massachusetts-based drug company Moderna is developing a vaccine against COVID-19 which has shown promising results. After triggering a strong immune response in eight patients, the vaccine will now undergo larger human trials.

On Monday, the company announced the results and that it would move forward expedited trials.

The potential vaccine spurred a strong immune response in the first eight patients, and it is now set to be extended to hundreds of patients and then thousands in an FDA-approved trial. The company has implemented a new technology that incorporates genetic material from the virus called mRNA.

On Monday, Moderna’s stock rose by more than 25 percent, allowing Wall Street to reach its best day in the past few months.

More than five million people worldwide have already been contracted COVID-19, with over half million in the U.S., and almost 315,000 have been killed.

The company explained that mRNA vaccines enter the body and stimulate an immune response creating antibodies.

While Moderna now occupies a leadership position in the development of a vaccine, experts say that it is imperative that more vaccines be tested, since global demand will go beyond a single company’s ability to satisfy it.

The drug’s second phase has been authorized by the FDA and is set to involve 600 more patients starting soon. If it is shown to be successful, the company would extend its vaccine trials to thousands of healthy people by early July.

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Article by Antonio Clibrizzi