Moderna is set to ask the Food and Drug Administration to allow emergency use of its vaccine candidate, becoming the second leading COVID vaccine developer to do this month.
Moderna said its vaccine was 94.1% effective at preventing COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, after completing phase 3 trials. The vaccine was also found to be 100% effective in preventing severe cases of the disease.
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“We believe that our vaccine will provide a new and powerful tool that may change the course of this pandemic and help prevent severe disease, hospitalizations and death,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in the statement.
Just 10 days ago, Pfizer submitted an application to the FDA for an emergency use authorization for its experimental Covid-19 vaccine.
Both vaccine candidates insert mRNA into the body, tricking it into developing an immune response. No mRNA-based drug has ever won approval before.
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Moderna received more than $1 billion in U.S. federal government funding to develop and produce its candidate, and another $1.5 billion to supply it to the American public, according to NBC News.
If the FDA approves EUA then the vaccine would be available in weeks.
