Moderna’s Coronavirus Vaccine has Moved to Second Phase of Testing
By Yasemin Saplakoglu | Staff Writer

LIVE SCIENCE – May 8, 2020 | The Food and Drug administration (FDA) has given approval to biotech company Moderna to begin the next phase of testing on its coronavirus vaccine candidate, the company announced Thursday (May 7).

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There are dozens of vaccine candidates worldwide that are being developed to fight the coronavirus outbreak, and a handful of them are already being tested on humans. Moderna began testing their vaccine on 45 healthy adults in Seattle in March, becoming one of the first companies to begin human clinical trials for a COVID-19 vaccine.

The purpose of phase 1 trials such as the one Moderna just completed, is to understand the safety and dosage of the candidate drug or vaccine, according to the FDA. Now, the testing will move to phase 2, in which the researchers will test the efficacy and side effects of the vaccine on about 600 people.