A trial vaccine has prompted an immune response in healthy adults, producing antibodies that can neutralize the novel coronavirus, according to the developers. Final testing will take place this fall, sources say.
The drug was also found to be well tolerated and safe. While “minor” side effects occurred in many patients, the results were hailed as an early-stage win by Anthony Fauci, M.D., the U.S. government’s top infectious disease expert.
“No matter how you slice this, this is good news,” he told the AP on Tuesday.
The vaccine, mRNA-1273, is being co-developed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease and Moderna, Inc., of Cambridge, Massachusetts. If successful, it will require two doses, a month apart, the developer said.
The government hopes to have final trial results by the end of 2020, a “record-setting speed for developing a vaccine,” the AP reported.
