In a milestone moment in the race for a coronavirus vaccine, the first results in humans showed Moderna's vaccine candidate led to antibody responses in a handful of healthy volunteers.
The trial was conducted by the US National Institutes of Health. Moderna is planning to soon start a mid-stage study and then begin a late-stage trial in July. The company hopes its vaccine could be ready for emergency use this fall, a timeline with no precedent in the history of vaccine development.
This trial enrolled 45 healthy volunteers to start, ages 18 to 55 years old, and randomly gave one of three dose strengths for two shots: 25 micrograms, 100 micrograms, and 250 micrograms. All participants developed detectable antibodies, and Moderna said there were "dose dependent increases in immunogenicity" across the three potencies.
After receiving both doses, the 15 volunteers at the weakest dose strength also had antibodies in their blood at similar levels as people who recovered from COVID-19.
Moderna coronavirus vaccine releases first human trial results - Business Insider