Early data on Moderna COVID-19 vaccine candidate shows 94.5% efficacy

Moderna Inc. today announced that its mRNA-1273 vaccine candidate against COVID-19 is 94.5% effective, according to early data.

The candidate is currently subject to a phase 3 clinical trial, with 30,000 U.S. participants enrolled, including those at high risk of severe COVID-19 complications.

The Moderna announcement follows similar claims of effectiveness by a vaccine candidate developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, with a prominent difference between the two vaccines; while the Pfizer candidate must be stored at minus 80 degrees Celsius, Moderna’s is stable between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius — the temperature of standard refrigerators — for up to 30 days.

Moderna expects to produce approximately 20 million doses of its vaccine by the end of 2020, with an additional 500 million to 1 billion doses worldwide in 2021. Of this stock, the U.S. has already purchased 100 million doses, pending Food and Drug Administration approval.