Moderna Partially Verifies Safety and Efficacy of COVID-19 Vaccine in Mouse Experiments

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jihwan] U.S. pharmaceutical company Moderna announced that it has partially verified the safety of its novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine in experiments.

According to major foreign media on the 12th (local time), the vaccine developed by Moderna is expected to provide immunity against COVID-19 with a single dose without increasing the risk of other severe diseases.

The experiment involved administering various doses of the Moderna vaccine, including amounts that do not elicit a strong immune response, one or two times to experimental mice aged 6 weeks.

As a result, there were no cases of respiratory diseases associated with the vaccine caused by a 'sub-protective' immune response.

However, Moderna and the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) explained that there may be limitations in directly applying the results from mice experiments to humans.

One of the biggest challenges in developing COVID-19 vaccines has been unexpected side effects. Scientists have pointed out that resolving side effects that worsen symptoms is the top priority in vaccine development.

Moderna is testing the vaccine on volunteers and plans to conduct a Phase 3 clinical trial involving 30,000 people in July. Phase 3 clinical trials are the final stage to verify the safety and efficacy of the drug. If this trial is passed, the vaccine can be immediately marketed.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.