Analysis confirms Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine efficacy to be 94.1%

pharmafile | November 30, 2020 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing |  COVID-19, Moderna, Vaccine 

US biotech Moderna has followed up on its highly promising efficacy data for its mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate with the results of a primary efficacy analysis which confirmed the therapy’s efficacy to be 94.1%.

The analysis of the interim Phase 3 findings identified 196 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in a study that recruited over 30,000 participants. The 94.1% efficacy rate is based on the split of cases in the trial groups; 11 cases were founded in the group receiving Moderna’s vaccine, while 185 were found in the placebo group.

“This positive primary analysis confirms the ability of our vaccine to prevent COVID-19 disease with 94.1% efficacy and importantly, the ability to prevent severe COVID-19 disease,” commented Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna, on the analysis. “We believe that our vaccine will provide a new and powerful tool that may change the course of this pandemic and help prevent severe disease, hospitalisations and death.”

The study is being conducted in partnership with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA); the study is ongoing and monitored by an independent, NIH-appointed Data Safety Monitoring Board.

On the back of the analysis, Moderna announced its intention to submit requests today with the FDA for Emergency Use Authorization, and for conditional approval from the EMA.

Matt Fellows