Coronavirus vaccine: Moderna seeks US, Europe authorisation

The US company is filing emergency authorisation requests after full results of the Covid-19 vaccine trial confirmed its estimated 94.1 per cent efficacy

Moderna said it expects to have around 20 million doses of the vaccine, called mRNA-1273, available in the US by the end of the year

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US firm Moderna says it expects to manufacture 500 million to 1 billion doses of its coronavirus vaccine globally in 2021. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:39pm, 30 Nov 2020Updated: 9:42pm, 30 Nov 2020

US firm Moderna said it would file requests for emergency authorisation of its Covid-19 vaccine in the United States and Europe on Monday, after full results confirmed a high efficacy estimated at 94.1 per cent.

“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, hospitalisation and death,” said the company’s CEO Stephane Bancel.

If the US Food and Drug Administration agrees it is safe and effective, the first of the drug’s two doses could be injected into the arms of millions of Americans by the middle of December.

American pharmaceutical Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech applied for similar approvals last week, and their vaccine could be greenlit in the US soon after December 10.

The Moderna vaccine, which was co-developed with the US National Institutes of Health, is being studied in a clinical trial with more than 30,000 participants across the United States.

An interim analysis announced earlier this month was based on 95 patients who fell sick with Covid-19.