Moderna preps up for global vaccine launch
American biotechnology company Moderna announced that it was preparing for the global launch of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate.
“We are actively preparing for the launch of mRNA-1273 and we have signed a number of supply agreements with governments around the world,” Xinhua news agency quoted Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel as saying in a statement on Thursday.
In addition to the Phase 3 study of the Covid-19 vaccine mRNA-1273, which is fully enrolled, Moderna now has four programs in Phase 2 studies, according to Bancel.
On October 22, the Phase 3 study of mRNA-1273 completed enrollment of 30,000 participants with approximately 37 per cent of participants from diverse communities.
BCG vaccine to fight COVID
The Bacille Calmette-Guerin or BCG vaccine, originally made against tuberculosis, may help in the management of Covid-19, especially in the elderly, says a study by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
The BCG vaccination is known to induce innate immune memory, which confers protection against several infections, the study uploaded as preprint at medRxiv, reported.
“We investigated the impact of BCG vaccination on the frequencies of T cell, B cell, monocyte and dendritic cell subsets,” the study researchers from ICMR wrote.
“Finally, BCG vaccination resulted in elevated levels of all antibody isotypes,” the researchers wrote.