WASHINGTON: US biotech firm Moderna said on Tuesday it would enter the final stage of human trials for its COVID-19 vaccine on Jul 27, after promising early results were published in an influential journal.
Under Phase 3, the trial will recruit 30,000 participants in the US, with half to receive the vaccine at 100 microgram dose levels, and the other half to receive a placebo.It is designed to show whether the vaccine is safe and can prevent infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, or - if people still get infected - whether it can prevent the infection progressing toward symptoms.
According to the new paper, 45 participants were split into three groups of 15 each to test doses of 25 micrograms, 100 micrograms and 250 micrograms.After the first round, antibody levels were found to be higher with higher doses. But he cautioned that more work was needed to evaluate the vaccine's safety - including making sure that it did not backfire by eventually making the immune system"tolerant" toward the real virus.
The advantage of this technology is that it bypasses the need to manufacture viral proteins in the lab, shaving months off the standardisation process and helping to ramp up mass production.Experts say a vaccine is needed to put an end to the pandemic that has sickened millions and caused nearly 575,000 deaths worldwide.
Law Law Latest News, Law Law Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »
Source: The Straits Times - 🏆 8. / 63 Read more »
Source: TODAYonline - 🏆 1. / 99 Read more »