Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA) announced that its COVI-19 vaccine candidate is 94.5% effective in preventing the disease based on the preliminary analysis of its Phase 3 trial of mRNA-1273.
The Massachusetts-based biotechnology company made the announcement a week after pharmaceutical giant Pfizer said its early analysis of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate showed an efficacy rate of more than 90%.
On Monday, Moderna said an independent, NIH-appointed Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) disclosed that mRNA-1273 met the statistical criteria pre-specified in the study protocol for efficacy.
Moderna said more than 30,000 people volunteered to participate in its Phase 3 trial, which the company conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).
The DSMB based its initial analysis on 95 participants who received either a placebo or the COVID-19 vaccine candidate. Among those who received the vaccine, only five infections happened, which resulted in a point estimate of 94.5% efficacy rate.
