Moderna Therapeutics recently received Fast-Track designation from the FDA for its COVID-19 candidate vaccine, mRNA-1273 together with the green light to initiate a Phase II clinical trial study. As other candidate vaccines in development have yet to receive Phase II trial approval, mRNA-1273 could be the first vaccine to be approved and launched for COVID-19 treatment, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

The candidate vaccine mRNA-1273 has been developed by Moderna in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and is the first vaccine in clinical trials in humans as a prophylactic intervention for COVID-19.

Arafa Salam, PhD, Infectious Diseases Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Although other pharmaceutical companies such as AstraZeneca have a potential COVID-19 vaccine in development in the UK, it is currently in a Phase I trial whereas Moderna’s candidate vaccine under development in the US will be in Phase II shortly and could be the first vaccine to be FDA approved and launched.” 

However recent news that both AstraZeneca and Moderna are struggling to find COVID-19 patients due to the declining number of infected patients, especially in Europe means that finding a vaccine for COVID-19 will take longer than expected.

Salam adds: “A COVID-19 vaccine would be more cost-effective and beneficial for global health providers as a patient would only need to receive it once compared to a therapeutic route requiring regular medication. Although the number of COVID-19 patients is declining at this time, there is still sufficient numbers of them to be recruited for vaccine trials and so a bigger awareness and information campaign in hospitals is needed to create more understanding of the trials and dispel patient fears about getting involved.”