On Monday, Moderna presented the latest report of its trials on a wide scale with a 94% efficacy rate as it awaits an FDA nod in the coming weeks soon to begin its vaccine rollout.
Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA), one of the forerunners in developing the COVID-19 vaccine has requested emergency clearance for its vaccine candidate. On Monday, November 30, Moderna appealed to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for early approval after data showed that its vaccine has a 94% efficacy rate.
Moderna Awaits for FDA Approval
Before Moderna, another pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) has also made a similar appeal. With the announcement, some Americans could likely get the first doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine in the coming weeks. In Moderna’s late-stage trials, nearly 30,000 participants had joined. The pharmaceutical giant identified nearly 196 coronavirus infections among them.
Morena released an early analysis of its phase-3 trials on November 16. At that time, Moderna presented only 95 cases wherein its vaccine showed a 94% efficacy rate. However, Monday’s data offers an even complete picture. Moreover, Moderna also said that its vaccine has prevented volunteers from getting severely sick with COVID-19. In a statement related to the work with the FDA, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said:
“This positive primary analysis confirms the ability of our vaccine to prevent COVID-19 disease with 94.1% efficacy and importantly, the ability to prevent severe COVID-19 disease. 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, hospitalizations and death”.
Moderna noted that its vaccine effectiveness has been consistent across age groups, age, and gender. On Monday, MRNA stock (NASDAQ: MRNA) surged 20% after the newly released data. Moreover, it surged an additional 10% up in pre-market hours. On Monday closing, MRNA stock was trading at $152.14 as the company’s market cap moves above $60 billion. The Moderna stock price has multiplied 7.5x since the beginning of 2020 with more than 650% year-to-date returns.
Goldman Sachs Predicts the Rollout for COVID-19 Vaccine
Investment banking giant Goldman Sachs has also given fresh predictions for the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. In a report last week, Goldman economists Sid Bhushan and Daan Struyven determined the vaccine rollout timeline based on the supply estimates of all involved drugmakers.
The analysts note that the vaccine rollout will begin in the next fifteen days starting mid-December. The first batch of the vaccine will go to the patients falling in the high-risk category. Moreover, they add that half of the population in the US and Canada shall likely be vaccinated by April 2021. This figure improves to 70% of people in the developed markets getting vaccinated by the fall of 2021.
Analysts are expecting an FDA nod in the coming weeks. Goldman Sachs has also predicted that the global economic recovery in the coming weeks shall be faster than expected. Goldman expects that the widespread immunization against COVID-19 will “drive a pickup in global growth” by the second quarter of 2021.
