Moderna Starts COVID Vaccine Trial in Children, Stock Soars
Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) announced today that the first children have been vaccinated in its Phase 2/3 pediatric COVID-19 vaccine trial, and as of Tuesday morning, the company’s stock was up 6.86% to $153.44.
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The study is expected to enroll 6,750 healthy pediatric participants ages 6 months to 12 years, in the U.S. and Canada, the company said in a statement.
The study, called KidCOVE, is being conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, which is part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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“We are pleased to begin this Phase 2/3 study of mRNA-1273 in healthy children in the U.S. and Canada and we thank NIAID and BARDA for their collaboration,” Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, said in the statement. “It is humbling to know that 53 million doses have been administered to people in the U.S. We are encouraged by the primary analysis of the Phase 3 COVE study of mRNA-1273 in adults ages 18 and above and this pediatric study will help us assess the potential safety and immunogenicity of our COVID-19 vaccine candidate in this important younger age population.”
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for Moderna on Dec. 18, 2020, which allowed the vaccine to be distributed in the U.S. for use in individuals 18 years of age and older, according to the FDA. The vaccine has a 94.1% efficacy rate, according to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention.
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