RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Biotechnology company ‘Moderna’ announced yesterday that preliminary tests of a potential vaccine for the novel coronavirus have yielded positive results.
Eight patients received small and medium doses of the vaccine and developed levels of antibodies similar to or higher than those found in patients already recovered from the disease.
The results suggest, for now, that the vaccine triggers a certain level of immunity. However, the result involves a small number of patients. The company has announced that it will conduct new tests in July that may involve 600 people.
“The provisional stage 1, although at an early stage, demonstrates that vaccination with mRNA-1273 produces an immune response of the same magnitude as that caused by natural infection,” Tal Zaks, Moderna’s medical director, said in a statement.
The company said the vaccine “has the potential to prevent Covid-19”.
The clinical study is conducted by the US National Institutes of Health, where the government has invested US$500 million (R$3 billion) for this potential vaccine.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Stephane Bancel, Moderna’s CEO, said the company is pleased that the “vaccine is safe”.
“The part that was really exciting and the big issue, of course, was that you can find antibodies in people in sufficient amounts” to prevent disease, he said.
Coronavirus vaccination is a global priority to end the pandemic that has killed more than 315,270 people worldwide and confirmed at least 4.7 million cases.
Last Friday, US President Donald Trump said he hoped to have a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year.
Source: AFP