A COVID-19 vaccine candidate has shown it can prompt an immune response in the human body, and was also found to be safe and well-tolerated in a small group of patients.
Moderna, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company that manufactured the vaccine, announced the encouraging early results from its phase 1 clinical trial Monday morning. The drug is now being tested in larger studies.
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The phase 1 trial involved 45 people. Results on eight of those participants revealed they developed neutralizing antibodies — which are believed to be key in providing protection from the virus — at levels seen in patients who've recovered from COVID-19.
"We could not be happier about this interim data," Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said during a conference call with investors Monday. He said the results indicate the vaccine has a "high probability to provide protection from COVID-19 disease in humans."