Vaccine developers report first positive sign in human trial

Early data from Moderna Inc’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate, the first to be tested in the United States, showed that it produced protective antibodies in a small group of healthy volunteers, the company said on Monday.

The data comes from eight people who took part in a 45-subject safety trial that kicked off in March. The Moderna vaccine is one of more than 100 under development intended to protect against Sars-CoV-2 – the virus that causes Covid-19. Overall, the study showed the vaccine was safe and all study participants produced antibodies against the virus.

“These are significant findings but it is a Phase 1 clinical trial that only included eight people. It was designed for safety. Not for efficacy,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, in infectious disease expert at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security who was not involved in the study.

The very early data offers a glimmer of hope for a vaccine among the most advanced in development.