Articles and News

Cambridge, MA--In a breaking news report released by CNBC last night, Moderna stock surged some 16 percent in after-hours trading on the company's announcement that its potential vaccine to prevent Covid-19 produced a “robust” immune response in all 45 patients in its early stage human trial. The CNBC report was based on newly released data published Tuesday evening in the peer-reviewed New England Journal of Medicine. Dow Jones futures also jumped on the hopeful news.

Also in the CNNBC report:

• 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 [shown above in a video interview], 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.”