Volunteers Begin Testing Moderna Coronavirus Vaccine

Four patients have received an injection of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine at the Kaiser Permanente research facility in Seattle, Washington, according to a Tuesday BBC story.

Moderna Therapeutics Inc. MRNA is the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotechnology company behind the vaccine, which aims to protect the patients against future outbreaks of the COVID-19. This is the first human trial for the virus that has been funded by the National Institutes of Health.

The phase one study is evaluating the safety and immunogenicity of three dose levels of mRNA-1273 (25, 100, 250 μg) administered on a two-dose vaccination schedule given 28 days apart.

It will still take months to know if this vaccine will work, experts said. A total of 45 healthy adults have been enrolled in the study. The participants will be followed up with 12 months after the second vaccination.

Moderna said it will work with the FDA and other government and non-government organizations to prepare for a phase two and any subsequent trials, which are anticipated to include a larger number of subjects and which will seek to generate additional safety and immunogenicity data.

Moderna Therapeutics shares were trading up 18.91% at $31.50 at the time of publication Tuesday. The stock has a 52-week high of $36 and a 52-week low of $11.54.

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