Moderna's vaccine shows protection from COVID-19 in monkey study

July 29, 2020 13:36

US biotechnology company Moderna's experimental vaccine to prevent COVID-19 induced robust immune responses and rapidly controlled the novel coronavirus in the upper and lower airways of monkeys exposed to SARS-CoV-2, according to a study.

The candidate vaccine, mRNA-1273, has been co-developed by scientists at Moderna and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the US.

The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, complements recently reported interim results from an NIAID-sponsored Phase 1 clinical trial of mRNA-1273.

In the study, three groups of eight rhesus macaques received two injections of 10 or 100 microgrammes of mRNA-1273 or a placebo. Injections were spaced 28 days apart.

Vaccinated macaques produced high levels of neutralising antibodies directed at the surface spike protein used by SARS-CoV-2 to attach to and enter cells, the researchers said.

-- PTI

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES

In Pictures - City make history! 4th straight EPL title secured

Manchester City celebrate unprecedented fourth successive league title

Raisi's Instagram post urges Iranians to pray for him

Raisi's condition currently remains unknown, Iranian state news agency IRNA has reported, after the helicopter he was traveling in crashed in the country's East Azerbaijan Province.

KKR await SRH in Qualifier 1; RR face RCB in Eliminator

Rajasthan Royals paid the price for their shoddy show during the business end as a washout of their final IPL league game

In Pictures - Sunrisers demolish Punjab Kings to finish second

Images from the IPL match between Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, at the Rajiv Gandhi stadium, Hyderabad, on Sunday.

Gopi Thotakura becomes first Indian space tourist on Blue Origin

Thotakura was selected as one of the six crew members for the NS-25 mission, making him the first Indian space tourist and the second Indian to venture into space after the Indian Army's Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma in 1984.