The week debuted with good news for and from Moderna.
The company announced that it secured a funding of $472 million from the US government to further develop a COVID-19 vaccine. The money will be used to start a late-stage clinical trial, with an extended Phase III study of the vaccine.
It is the second funding that Moderna receives from the government. Back in April, it got $483 million from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to continue its research amid positive data collected from the Phase I trial.
The company is moving on with its Phase III trial, which will consist of up to 30,000 people. It will be a placebo-controlled trial, conducted with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The endgame is the prevention of symptomatic COVID-19, while the virus contraction and preventing the severe forms which require hospitalization will be resolved along the way.
Today the share price gained more than 11%. Pushed by the fact that it is the front-runner for developing a viable COVID-19 vaccine, the stock price increased more than 270% this year, while USA500 slid 0.4%.
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Sources: marketwatch.com