Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine stimulates an immune response in people

Team Udayavani, May 19, 2020, 2:17 PM IST

An experimental vaccine from Moderna Inc. showed promising early signs that it can create an immune-system response in the body that could help fight coronavirus.

The results were according to sampling of data from a small, first human trial of the inoculation. The vaccine was developed by The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the biotechnology company Moderna.

Moderna, the first to begin human trials, gave two doses of their vaccine to 8 volunteers. The technology in use is relatively new, it involves using genetic material from the virus called mRNA. This method has not been used to create vaccine so far.

It must now be repeated in far larger tests in hundreds and then thousands of people, to find out if the vaccine can work in the real world.

Moderna Chief Executive Officer Stephane Bancel  said, “This is a very good sign that we make an antibody that can stop the virus from replicating,”

The company has received approval from the FDA and is set to enter Phase 2 testing, which will involve around 600 healthy volunteers. It has also collaborated with Lonza Ltd., a Swiss biotech company, to manufacture up to one billion doses of the vaccine per year.