oderna is seeking approval for its coronavirus vaccine in the US and Europe after a final study suggested it was 94.1 per cent effective.
A primary analysis for the final phase of the study suggests the vaccine may offer very high levels of protection against Covid-19 and there appears to be no evidence efficacy is worse at older ages.
The UK has secured seven million doses of the jab from the US firm – enough for around 3.5 million people in the UK.
Moderna said the analysis of the phase three COVE study of the vaccine candidate, called mRNA-1273, involving 30,000 participants included 196 cases of Covid-19, of which 30 cases were severe.
Vaccine efficacy against the disease was 94.1 per cent, and vaccine efficacy against severe Covid-19 was 100 per cent, the company reported.
It added that the jab is generally well tolerated with no serious safety concerns identified to date.
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The study has exceeded two months of median follow-up post-vaccination.
Announcing the results on Monday, Moderna said it plans to request emergency use authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
It will apply for a conditional marketing authorisation with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and to progress with the rolling reviews, which have already been initiated with international regulatory agencies.
And it is potentially easier to distribute because it does not need to be stored under ultra-low temperatures.
But its efficacy in trials – between 62 per cent and 90 per cent – is a bit lower than the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
