Moderna Vaccine Produced Antibodies in All Patients Tested

Moderna Inc.’s Covid-19 vaccine produced antibodies to the coronavirus in all patients tested in an initial safety trial, federal researchers said, clearing an important milestone as the U.S. continues to grapple with a surge in new infections.

The findings are likely to increase hopes that a vaccine can be brought to market quickly. However, a number of patients in the trial experienced side effects, some of them severe. The vaccine will move into a much larger late-stage trial later this month that’s likely to determine whether it’s approved by U.S. regulators.

The neutralizing antibody levels in the trial produced were equivalent to the upper half of what’s seen in patients who get infected with the virus and recover, according to the results published Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

While stimulating production of neutralizing antibodies doesn’t prove a vaccine will be effective, it’s considered an important early step in testing. Meanwhile, the side effects reported weren’t severe enough in the majority of patients to preclude further testing, according to the report by researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.


ABC News’ Bob Woodruff reports on new developments in the push for a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of 2020, speaking with the CEO of Novavax on their efforts.