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The European Commission (EC) has secured up to 160 million doses of Moderna mRNA-1273’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate after the vaccine hit its mark in a large-scale Phase 3 trial earlier this month.
Moderna’s mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine is the latest vaccine to be insured following a series of agreements entered into between the EC and the vaccine developers.
Previous deals include a potential vaccine deal from AstraZeneca, Pfizer / BioNTech, Sanofi / GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, and CureVac.
The EC is also discussing with Novavax a potential supply deal for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate NVX-CoV2373, which is expected to begin late-stage testing by the end of November.
“Although restrictive measures can slow the spread of the virus in this very difficult situation, we all know that only a safe and effective vaccine will provide a lasting and sustainable solution to this pandemic,” said EC President Ursula von der Leyen.
“Vaccination can help and is crucial to ending the pandemic so that we can overcome this virus,” he added.
Last week, Moderna announced that its vaccine, mRNA-1273, demonstrated an efficacy rate of 94.5% based on an interim analysis of a phase 3 study.
The interim data from the COVE study is based on the analysis of COVID-19 cases that were confirmed and adjudicated starting two weeks after the second dose of mRNA-1273.
Preliminary data from this analysis included 95 cases – with 90 of these COVID-19 cases occurring in the placebo group and five in the vaccinated group – reflecting a point estimate of vaccine efficacy of 94.5%.
The analysis also included a simultaneous review of available safety data by the independent data safety monitoring committee (DSMB), which did not report any significant safety concerns with the vaccine.
An additional secondary endpoint looked at severe COVID-19 cases within the study. There were 11 severe cases, all occurring in the placebo group and none in the mRNA-1273 arm.
Moderna also has supply agreements with the UK and the US, with the former ordering five million doses of mRNA-1273 following the announcement of the positive data.
In August, Moderna also signed an agreement with the US government for 100 million doses of mRNA-1273 for $ 1.5 billion. Under the terms of the agreement – as part of the government’s Warp Speed operation – the United States will also have the option to purchase an additional 400 million doses of the vaccine.
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