Biotech giant Moderna on Monday announced that its COVID-19 vaccine was 94.5% effective in preventing the disease during Phase 3 trials.
Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel called it a “pivotal moment in the development of our COVID-19 vaccine candidate.”
“This positive interim analysis from our Phase 3 study has given us the first clinical validation that our vaccine can prevent COVID-19 disease, including severe disease,” he said in a statement.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN the results are “as good as it gets.” He told MSNBC that doses may start rolling out in December. Moderna said it expects to have 20 million doses ready to ship in the U.S. this year, and 500 to 1 billion globally in 2021.
Dr. Fauci says he is optimistic about FDA approval for Moderna and Pfizer vaccines:
“The vaccines are effective … We want to get doses to people starting in December, and then we want to really get the ball rolling as we get into January, February and March.” pic.twitter.com/qo8mSQvhZK
— The Recount (@therecount) November 16, 2020
The promising trial results follow last week’s news of Pfizer’s vaccine that showed a more than 90% efficacy rate. Both vaccines uses a vaccine production technology called mRNA, or messenger RNA.
Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine trial got its start at Seattle’s Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute. Members from Seattle’s tech community were part of the first group of participants to get their shots in the initial Moderna trials. The company last month completed enrolling 30,000 volunteers for its crucial Phase 3 trial.
The Dow was up more than 400 points on Monday morning. Shares of United Airlines and Uber rose, while Zoom and Peloton fell. Moderna’s stock was up more than 7%.
There are several other vaccines in development from companies including AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and Novavax. Fred Hutch last week opened volunteer enrollment for a Phase 3 study for AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine.
“We’re optimistic today about the success of the two mRNA vaccine candidates against COVID-19 and the other vaccine candidates in our testing pipeline, all of which target the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein,” Dr. Larry Corey, virologist at Seattle’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and co-leader of the COVID-19 Prevention Network’s vaccine testing program, said in a statement Monday. “These results demonstrate that a single strand of RNA that transcribes a prefusion protein of the SARS CoV-2 virus, when wrapped in a lipid nanoparticle, can elicit a highly effective immune response in adults, among the elderly and across racial and ethnic populations.”
In the weeks ahead, clinical trials may progress far enough for the Food and Drug Administration to issue emergency use authorizations for promising vaccine candidates. But health experts at last month’s GeekWire Summit stressed that such an authorization would be only an interim step toward getting a vaccine widely distributed.
U.S. COVID-19 cases just topped 11 million. In Washington state, Gov. Jay Inslee on Sunday announced broad new restrictions on indoor gatherings, indoor dining, and more.
Great day for patients. We may have two highly effective vaccines for Covid if results from the interim Pfizer and Moderna trials are confirmed by the full data sets. The acute phase of the U.S. pandemic will end in 2021. We must work together to get through the next 3 months https://t.co/XhetXU70nd
— Scott Gottlieb, MD (@ScottGottliebMD) November 16, 2020
Moderna vaccine 94% effective per first data
Like Pfizer uses mRNA platform
Like Pfizer 2 shots required
Unlike Pfizer less stringent temperature storage
20 million doses targeted by year end (10 mm people) once approved
2/
— Andy Slavitt @ ??? (@ASlavitt) November 16, 2020
“Now we have two vaccines that are really quite effective.”
Watch @SavannahGuthrie’s full interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci about the new coronavirus vaccine candidate results from Moderna, battling COVID fatigue, and the importance of a smooth White House transition. pic.twitter.com/mosSOEyMzo
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) November 16, 2020
