Moderna Inc proceeds ahead for the Phase 2 clinical trial of its vaccine to fight with the coronavirus. The company has received a nod from the Food and Drug Administration to proceed ahead with the project. MRNA stock is in the green in the pre-market.
While the world is going through some of the most testing times, there’s still a ray of hope. Medicinal scientists and professionals have accelerated their fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic. In the latest development, Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA) has submitted a new application to the FDA. This application from Moderna seeks consent to proceed for the Phase 2 clinical trial of its novel coronavirus vaccine candidate mRNA 1273. This trail will involve 600 participants and examine two injections of the COVID-19 vaccine, each 28 days apart. There are two dosages each of 50 grams and 250 micro-grams.
Moderna Vaccine Trial
Moderna said that it has received an FDA nod for the Phase 2 trial which will commence in the second quarter of 2020. Moreover, the trial will also involve some sort of split testing. Like out of 600 healthy participants, 300 will be adults between the 18-55 age group. The remaining 300 will be above 55 age group. Moderna said that they will be following the participants for 12 months after giving the second vaccination.
In an official statement, Tal Zaks, Moderna’s chief medical officer, said:
“Submitting this IND is an important next step in the clinical development of our mRNA vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, and we are moving rapidly to potentially address this global health emergency”.
Moderna is leading the war against the novel coronavirus along with giants like Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE), GlaxoSmithKline PLC (NYSE: GSK), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). There are other small players like Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: INO) or Novavax Inc (NASDAQ: NVAX) who are working on the COVID-19 vaccine.
So far, the antimalarial drug Hydroxychloroquine has shown some efficacy to fight against Coronavirus. However, it has shown mixed results and less encouraging reports off lately. Another is an experimental drug from Gilead Sciences Inc (NASDAQ: GILD) dubbed Remdesivir.
Moderna Inc (MRNA) Stock Performance
As on Tuesday’s closing, Moderna’s stock price was trading flat at $47.88 (-0.35%) with a market cap of $15.75 billion. While a majority of the companies have seen their market cap eroding in this global market correction, Moderna stands out from the rest of the crowd. Now at the time of writing, in the pre-market, MRNA is 1.32% up at $48.51.
If we look at its year-to-date performance, Moderna’s stock price has surged nearly 150% so far. Starting the year just under $20, Moderna’s stock is now trading eyeing a target of $50 in the short term.
This comes on the backdrop of Moderna’s close working with the U.S. government for developing a vaccine. Out of the recent funds allotted by the Fed, the U.S. government has pumped $483 million which is also a major bailout package.
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