NEW YORK, Nov 16 - US-based biotechnology giant Moderna announced on Monday that its COVID-19 vaccine has shown to be 94.5 per cent effective in preventing the deadly disease, bringing a glimmer of hope to a world ravaged by the pandemic.
Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Moderna�s announcement comes just a week after Pfizer and Biontech said their COVID-19 vaccine candidate was found to be more than 90 per cent effective in preventing COVID-19 in participants.
�Since early January, we have chased this virus with the intent to protect as many people around the world as possible,� Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said.
�The independent, NIH-appointed Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) for the Phase 3 study of mRNA-1273, its vaccine candidate against COVID-19, has informed Moderna that the trial has met the statistical criteria pre-specified in the study protocol for efficacy, with a vaccine efficacy of 94.5 per cent,� the company said in a statement.
This study, known as the COVE study, enrolled more than 30,000 participants in the US, it added.
Based on these interim safety and efficacy data, Moderna intends to submit for an emergency use authorisation (EUA) with the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) in the coming weeks and anticipates having the EUA informed by the final safety and efficacy data.
Moderna also plans to submit applications for authorisations to global regulatory agencies. � PTI
