Coronavirus vaccine made by a US biotech company names Moderna showed promising early signs in the first human trial by creating an immune-system response in the body that could help fend off the Covid-19
Moderna which is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said the vaccine candidate, mRNA-1273, appeared to produce an immune response in eight people who received and this was similar to people who were recovering from the virus.
Though the test has been done on very small number of people and we have very less data, the researchers from Moderna says that the data can’t be better than this.
The current vaccine is a new type of vaccine and has never been used in any approved vaccine before. The technology being used in this vaccine is called the mRNA technology and this relies on the body’s own cells to produce viral proteins.
On injecting this vaccine, the RNA slips into human cells and tells them to make virus-like proteins, in this case, the “spike” protein on the surface of the coronavirus. If the vaccine works, those proteins then trigger the body to generate protective antibodies.
Moderna is now moving fast and three groups of 15 patients aged 18 to 55 have already received three different doses of the vaccine in the Phase 1 test and are waiting for the results. They already have permission to test this on 600 people as part of phase-2. The phase-3 test which will be the largest test and only after which vaccine will be approved is reportedly scheduled in July.
Moderna shares increased by 26% in trading before the market opened in New York after this announcement.
The development of a vaccine usually takes years but the coronavirus pandemic, which has caused more than 315,000 deaths, has given unprecedented urgency to the search.
Let us hope that we get a vaccine as soon as possible and the world gets back to normal conditions.
