Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, at a White House meeting on March 2, 2020. Source: Business Insider.
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  • Late-stage testing of Moderna’s prospective COVID-19 vaccine has shown the treatment is 94.5 per cent effective in preventing the virus
  • 30,000 people were tested in the latest trial, which has yet to be peer reviewed
  • This is the second round of promising results for a prospective vaccine, after Pfizer revealed its own candidate was estimated to be around 90 per cent effective
  • Moderna began development of the vaccine as part of the U.S. Government’s “Warp Speed Program” and expects to submit for accelerated approval from the Food and Drug Administration in the coming weeks
  • The company has already produced millions of doses, which are ready to be rolled out upon approval, amid rising record daily cases of the virus across the U.S.

Late-stage testing of Moderna’s prospective COVID-19 vaccine has shown the treatment to be around 94.5 per cent effective in preventing the virus, exceeding early expectations.

30,000 people were tested in the latest trial, which is yet to be peer reviewed.

This is the second round of promising results for a prospective vaccine, after Pfizer revealed its own candidate was shown to be around 90 per cent effective.

Both vaccines operate by the same mechanism, using an inactive portion of the virus’s genetic make-up to trigger an immune response in patients.

Promisingly for Moderna’s candidate, the vaccine can be stored at common refrigeration temperatures.

This is a major benefit over Pfizer’s own vaccine, which needs to be stored around negative 70 degrees Celsius.

In another key finding from the study, Moderna’s vaccine was shown to limit the severity of the COVID-19 infection, something the Pfizer vaccine has yet to demonstrate.

Moderna began development of the vaccine as part of the U.S. Government’s “Warp Speed Program” and expects to submit for accelerated approval from the Food and Drug Administration in the coming weeks.  

The company has already produced millions of doses, which are ready to be rolled out to combat the rising record daily cases of the virus across the U.S. once approved.

With both Pfizer’s and Moderna’s prospective vaccines entering the late stages of development, governments around the world are eagerly awaiting full approval in the U.S., which could occur as early as December this year.

Meanwhile, vaccines developed in China and Russia are already being rolled out across those regions, with Russia’s recently approved vaccine boasting a 92 per cent effectiveness rate.

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