Moderna, a well-known drug company in the United States has announced that the final test of the long-awaited coronavirus vaccine.
The company said on Thursday (June 11) that the vaccine would be tested on 30,000 volunteers in July. This step of vaccine discovery is being considered as the final stage. Several US media outlets have reported the news.
Still now no approved vaccine has been discovered. Various companies and organizations around the world are continuing their research to invent vaccines. There are 76 such organizations in the list of the World Health Organization (WHO). Moderna is the first company to conduct clinical trials with RNA vaccine. This vaccine is made using the genetic material of the virus. The goal is to make antibodies by awakening the human immune system. Moderna is working with the US National Institutes of Health to develop the vaccine.
The Cambridge-based biotech company in Massachusetts said the goal of the test would be to cure the symptoms of corona disease. The second important goal will be to prevent serious illness so that people do not have to go to the hospital.
According to Moderna, 100 micrograms of the vaccine dose has been set for the final test. If the final test is successful, the company will be able to supply 500 million doses of vaccine each year depending on the dosage level. However, from the beginning of 2021, it will be possible to produce 1 billion doses jointly with the Swedish drug manufacturer Langer, the company said.
The Moderna vaccine was first injected into the human body experimentally last March. In the first phase of the test, participants were given two doses of the vaccine. After testing antibodies in the bodies of eight of them, Moderna said the initial results were positive.
The eight volunteers, who received the vaccine experimentally developed antibodies and were tested in the lab, were able to prevent the virus from spreading. Each of the eight has a level of coronavirus 'neutralizing antibody' that is equal to or greater than the antibody produced by people who recover from the virus. Neutralizing antibodies block the virus, destroying its ability to attack the human body.