Buzzy biotech Moderna is 'looking at all options' to ramp up production just days after shipping the first potential coronavirus vaccine

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Buzzy biotech Moderna is 'looking at all options' to ramp up production just days after shipping the first potential coronavirus vaccine
FILE PHOTO: A health worker injects a man with Ebola vaccine in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, August 5, 2019. REUTERS/Baz Ratner/File Photo

Reuters

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After developing a vaccine candidate in less than 45 days, Moderna's next critical challenge is scaling up its manufacturing.

  • A startup biotech is leading the race to develop a coronavirus vaccine, as the scientific community and drug industry scramble to identify treatments to halt the outbreak.
  • On Tuesday, Moderna shipped the first batches of its experimental vaccine to the National Institutes of Health. US health officials will lead the first clinical trial, planning to test the vaccine for safety in healthy adults.
  • While the NIH prepares to start that study, Moderna executives said they are "looking at all options" to boost manufacturing capabilities. The buzzy biotech, which went public in 2018, has been solely focused on research.
  • A sense of urgency has been placed on the drug industry to identify and develop vaccines and treatments to halt the coronavirus outbreak, which is causing the disease called COVID-19. The virus has killed more than 2,700 people and sickened more than 81,000.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A small, buzzy biotech is leading the race to develop a vaccine against the coronavirus, outpacing some of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies like Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi in the process.

That speedy progress was seen Monday, as Moderna confirmed it had shipped the first batches of its experimental vaccine to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Leaders of the US health agency said they plan to start testing Moderna's potential vaccine in humans by April.

While the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech developed a vaccine candidate in less than 45 days, a critical challenge will be figuring out how to scale up its production capacity. Moderna, like most early-stage biotechs, doesn't have commercial products or the ability to manufacture a drug or vaccine in large quantities.

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Read more: A buzzy biotech just outpaced the drug industry's giants to ship the first potential coronavirus vaccine. Here's how 6 top drugmakers are racing to tackle an outbreak that has already killed 2,600.

Moderna executives said they are considering "all options" to boost manufacturing although they have yet to make a decision.

"We are looking at a lot of options, both internally, externally, CMO partners, to figure out what's the right path forward," Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said Wednseday on an earnings call. "When we have a better picture, we will share it."

CMO stands for contract manufacturing organization, which are companies that help others in the pharma or biotech industry produce their treatments.

A sense of urgency has been placed on the drug industry to identify and develop vaccines and treatments to halt the coronavirus outbreak, which is causing the disease called COVID-19. The virus has killed more than 2,700 people and sickened more than 81,000.

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The first clinical trial of Moderna's drug will test three doses of the vaccine in health adults, studying to see if the vaccine is safe and creates an immune response. The trial is currently estimated to start on March 6 and enroll 45 people, according to a clinicaltrials.gov posting.

Moderna's stock has soared thanks to its progress against the coronavirus. The shares shot up 16% on Wednesday.

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