RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The race for a vaccine against the novel coronavirus reached a milestone on Tuesday. The Moderna Pharmaceutical’s vaccine, one of the most promising in the world, was finally published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine.
Moderna confirmed what had been expected since the first news emerged two months ago. The vaccine is mostly safe and has produced immunization responses that can protect patients. The US government’s health department said the findings confirm the value of new, decisive testing stages. The US government has already shown interest in buying 300 million doses of the vaccine in January 2021.
Moderna will now initiate a trial with 30,000 people on July 27th that should provide the final answer as to whether or not the vaccine works. Moderna was the first pharmaceutical company to test on humans, and with this news it may be the first to launch its product commercially. The company bets on a line of its own, using “messenger RNA” that can teach the human body to produce “blank” antibodies to prevent the virus before it actually starts infection.
In its publication, Moderna reported that it conducted a first stage of trials with 45 adults between the ages of 18 and 55, who were administered three different dosages. The antibody response was greater with the highest dosage, but all subjects tested achieved protection against Covid-19. The percentage of adverse effects was considered (21 percent) to be acceptable by the researchers. A second stage of trials is underway, involving 600 adults.
Progress disclosures have converted Moderna into a financial market phenom: its market value quadrupled this year to US$29 billion (R$145 billion). The company’s shares were up 16 percent after the closing of Tuesday’s trading session with the announcement of the study results.
In addition to Moderna, three other research groups are in the race for a breakthrough.
Pfizer announced last week that its experimental vaccine, developed in partnership with the BioNtech startup, produced positive results with 45 volunteers, which accredits the company to produce up to one billion doses by 2021.
Two other vaccines have Brazil as their testing ground. The Chinese company Sinovac, for its part, has signed a partnership with the government of São Paulo, which on Monday began recruiting 9,000 volunteers for a third testing stage (the same one Moderna will initiate).
AstraZeneca, in partnership with Oxford University, is also running trials in Brazil and says the vaccine may become available later this year. The company’s presumed advantage is to use a platform already tested on viruses such as MERS and Ebola.
Source: Exame