On Apr. 27, 2020, Moderna announced it had submitted an Investigational New Drug application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the company’s mRNA vaccine candidate (mRNA-1273) against the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) to evaluate mRNA-1273 in Phase 2 and late-stage studies, if supported by safety data from the Phase 1 study led by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Subject to data from the Phase 1 and Phase 2 studies and discussions with regulators, a Phase 3 study could begin in the fall of 2020. Funding from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, supported the planning for these studies and also supported the late-stage clinical development programs, as well as the scale-up of mRNA-1273 manufacturing.

An open-label Phase 1 study of mRNA-1273 is being conducted by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases under its own Investigational New Drug (IND) application. The Phase 1 study, which began on March 16, 2020, completed enrollment of 45 healthy adult volunteers ages 18 to 55 years in the original three dose cohorts (25 µg, 100 µg and 250 µg). The study is enrolling an additional six cohorts: three cohorts of older adults (ages 56-70) and three cohorts of elderly adults (ages 71 and above). Data from the original cohort of healthy adult volunteers ages 18 to 55 years will be reported once available.

mRNA-1273 is an mRNA vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 encoding for a prefusion stabilized form of the Spike (S) protein, which was selected by Moderna in collaboration with investigators from Vaccine Research Center (VRC) at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a part of the NIH. The first clinical batch, which was funded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, was completed on February 7, 2020 and underwent analytical testing; it was shipped to NIH on February 24, 42 days from sequence selection. The first participant in the NIAID-led Phase 1 study of mRNA-1273 was dosed on March 16, 63 days from sequence selection to Phase 1 study dosing.

Moderna scientists designed the company’s prophylactic vaccines modality to prevent infectious diseases. More than 1,400 participants have been enrolled in Moderna’s infectious disease vaccine clinical studies under health authorities in the U.S., Europe and Australia. Clinical data demonstrate that Moderna’s proprietary vaccine technology has been generally well-tolerated and can elicit durable immune responses to viral antigens. Based on clinical experience across Phase 1 studies, the company designated prophylactic vaccines a core modality and is working to accelerate the development of its vaccine pipeline.