MOSCOW – The US company of Moderna said it had sent its vaccine against the South African strain of the coronavirus to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for a Phase 1 clinical trial.
“Moderna Inc, a biotechnology company pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines, announces that it has completed manufacturing of clinical trial material for its variant-specific vaccine candidate, mRNA-1273.351, against the SARS-CoV-2 variant known as B.1.351 first identified in the Republic of South Africa, and has shipped doses to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for a Phase 1 clinical trial that will be led and funded by the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID),” the company said in a statement on late Wednesday.
The World Health Organization declared the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11.
To date, more than 112.52 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, with over 2.49 million fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The mutated strain was first detected in South Africa last October and since then has spread to Europe. It is believed to be more contagious than the original coronavirus.
In the latest vaccine development news, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revealed that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine provides strong protection against severe disease and even death from Covid-19.
The research also showed that the one-shot vaccine may also reduce the spread of the virus by those who have been vaccinated.
According to the FDA, the J&J vaccine had a 64% efficacy rate in South Africa and 72% in the US.