An analysis of the early-stage data of Moderna’s experimental COVID-19 vaccine trials has shown that the vaccine-induced immune responses in older adults similar to younger participants.
Moderna is one of the leading contenders in the race to develop a safe and effective vaccine against COVID-19 and its candidate vaccine, mRNA-1273 is already in the Phase 3 stage of clinical trials.
Moderna is now reporting its results from the Phase 1 study, including the details on how the vaccine performs in older people and the data from 20 additional people. The 100 microgram dosage that has been selected for the larger Phase 3 trial was studied in the analysis. Moderna reported that those aged between 18 and 55, 56, and 70 years, and above 70 had similar immune responses.
There were concerns among the health officials regarding the efficacy of vaccines in older people, whose immune systems are typically weaker than the younger people and don’t respond as strongly to vaccines.
More than 13,000 participants have been enrolled in the late-stage study by the company, among which 18% are Native American, Alaska Native, Latino, or Black who were often underrepresented in clinical trials and particularly hitten hard by the pandemic.
On Wednesday, the data is being presented at the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meeting of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To speed up the vaccine development for COVID-19, the US government granted nearly $1 billion to Moderna, which has no drugs in the market. The company has also entered into a supply agreement with the United States for $1.5 billion. Moderna’s share value which tripled this year so far rose about 6% after they released the data.
The company is planning to post weekly updates on enrollment of Black and Latino trial subjects on its website, Moderna’s head of infectious disease development, Dr. Jacqueline Miller, told a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) panel.
