New trial vaccine creates antibodies to fight coronavirus

Last week, Moderna Inc. won the US health agency's "fast track" label, which will allow them to speed through the process of the regulatory review, the company hopes to begin a broader, late-stage trial with the vaccine in July.

As for now, there currently isn't any vaccine or approved treatment for COVID-19 and many experts don't expect one will made available within the next year, and possibly even as late as 2022. It takes many months for a vaccine to be developed in a way that is both safe and effective.

The National Institutes of Health confirmed that eight of Moderna's test patients displayed similar antibodies to blood samples taken from people who had already recovered from COVID-19, after taking their vaccine.

The study involved 45 participants who were each administered three different doses of the vaccine. Moderna discovered a dose-dependant increase in immunogenicity, meaning the vaccine had the ability to provoke the body's immune system into a response.

"We are investing to scale up manufacturing so we can maximize the number of doses we can produce to help protect as many people as we can from SARS-CoV-2," said Stephane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer at Moderna. Inc.

Moderna signed a deal with the US government and Lonza Group AG, a Swiss contract drugmaker, in order to produce the vaccine on a grand scale.

There have been little signs of side effects during the early-stage study with the vaccine mRNA-1273, according to the company. One person did experience some redness around the injection site, however no serious side effects were reported.

Since the beginning of 2020 up to news of this breaking on Friday, shares at Moderna Inc. have increased by 240 percent.