The biotech company Moderna has produced the first experimental vaccine against the Coronavirus: tests on 45 volunteers affected by Covid-19 are about to start in Seattle.
Good news in the fight against the Coronavirus. In the midst of the race against time to stem the terrible effects of Covid-19, the American biotech company Moderna has announced it has produced the first vial of mRNA-1273, the first experimental vaccine “for human use”. The American company’s product aims to strengthen the body’s immune defenses by introducing spike proteins into patients’ bodies. These particles are used by the virus to anchor itself to the ACE2 receptor and spread through the body. The researchers explained that spikes function as tiny picks that allow the coronavirus to unhinge the entrance doors of cells in the human respiratory system to penetrate and multiply. Blocking these proteins means disarming the virus: and this is precisely the goal of the experimental vaccine produced by the company Moderna.
Vaccine against the Coronavirus: tests on 45 volunteers are underway
Modern has arrived at the production of the vaccine in a very short time. Only 42 days after the isolation of the Covid-19 genome sequence, the biotech company’s researchers officially presented the first batch of mRNA-1273, the vaccine “for human use”. The first vials were sent to several American hospitals to begin phase one testing. In Seattle, the vaccine will be injected for the first time in the next few hours to 45 volunteer patients. As the institute explains, participants in the study will receive two injections of the mRNA-1237 vaccine after 28 days and will undergo 11 visits to control any side effects. Different doses of the vaccine will be tested: a first group will receive a dose of 25 micrograms, a second one of 100 and a third one of 250. However, the first reliable results will take a long time. As established by the Food and Drug Administration, the testing phase will last no less than 14 months. It will therefore take at least one year to have a safe and effective vaccine to administer to millions of people.
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