Moderna Prepares to Launch COVID-19 Vaccine Globally

By D. Cruz Oct 29 2020, 23:53 PM EDT

Moderna is preparing for the global launch of its potential COVID-19 vaccine, the company said Thursday in its third-quarter earnings report.

US Officials Consider Giving Half Doses of Moderna Vaccine to Give More People Immunity — A view of Moderna headquarters on May 08, 2020 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Moderna has already taken $1.1 billion in deposits from governments, awaiting the potentially life-saving COVID-19 vaccine launch.

The Massachusetts-based company said it had ongoing talks with the COVAX that is backed by the World Health Organization. They are seeking to agree on tiered pricing for the COVID-19 vaccine.

So far, Moderna has secured supply agreements with North America, the Middle East, and other regions, said a CNBC report.

In line with the launch, they are also on-track to report data on their experimental vaccine's late-stage trial, called mRNA-1273, said Reuters.

They're aiming to have the data by next month, the most apparent timeline yet for a possible safe and effective vaccine.

The company's CEO, Stephane Bancel, said in a press release that they are "committed to the highest data quality standards and rigorous scientific research."

An independent data monitoring committee is expected to hold an interim review for the 30,000-participant trial in November. Enrollment for the said study was already completed, said Moderna.

Twenty Million COVID-19 Vaccine Doses in 2020

As the company prepares to distribute by the end of 2020, about 20 million doses of the vaccine will likely be produced. It will be followed by some 500 million to one billion doses in 2021.

The firm has also agreed to supply several other countries such as Japan, Switzerland, and Canada, with tens of millions of doses.

With these developments, shares for Moderna and BioNtech, another COVID-19 vaccine developer, surged on Thursday.

According to Business Insider, trades for Moderna were higher by as much as 13 percent while BioNtech went up 11 percent.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the BioNtech vaccine could be rapidly distributed in Germany by the end of the year, depending on trial results.

Moderna Trial Data, So Far

As of last week, 25,650 volunteers have already received the company's two-dose vaccine.

About 37 percent of the participants came from diverse communities, while 42 percent are at high risk for severe illness. According to a company presentation, 53 percent of the participants were male, while 47 percent were female.

Most of the participants are over the age of 25, and only 5 percent are 18 to 24 years old. Moderna said infection rates among trial participants were in line with their expectations.

"We have pretty sophisticated models of what to expect, and I think we're on track for those expectations," Chief Medical Officer Tal Zaks said.

The two-month follow-up safety data required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will likely be ready by the second half of November.

FDA required COVID-19 vaccine developers to watch their trial subjects for two months after receiving their final dose. This is to ensure that no side effects related to the vaccine crop up in the long run.

If there were no adverse side effects that arise from that point, the company could file an emergency use authorization.

Last August, Moderna said a dose of their COVID-19 vaccine would be charged from $32 to $37 for some customers. As the company seeks bigger volume agreements, the price is expected to get lower.