Moderna Therapeutics co- founded by Noubar Afeyan, one of the first biotech companies to begin human trials of an experimental vaccine for the coronavirus is now ready to move onto the next phase of testing.

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On Thursday, Moderna announced that the Food and Drug Administration had cleared its application to proceed to a clinical trial involving about 600 people.

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“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) completed its review of the Company’s Investigational New Drug (IND) application for its novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19) vaccine candidate (mRNA-1273) allowing it to proceed to the Phase 2 study,” Moderna said.

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The company said a 600 participant Phase 2 study is expected to begin shortly. The Company is finalizing the protocol for the Phase 3 study, which is expected to begin in the early summer of 2020.

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More than a dozen companies, including known vaccine producers like Johnson & Johnson, or Sanofi, are involved in a global race to develop a vaccine. 

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H/T Public Radio Of Armenia