Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine trial reached its goal to conduct its first interim analysis after it saw a significant increase in the rate of COVID-19 cases in the last week, the drugmaker said Nov. 11.
The drugmaker had planned to conduct an interim analysis of the vaccine's effectiveness after 53 trial participants contracted COVID-19, but says it now expects "substantially more" people in the trial have tested positive, which means the statistical strength of the results will be stronger.
Moderna said it's preparing data from the trial to be sent to an independent review board to conduct the analysis.
Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told The Hill Nov. 11 that he's confident that positive data from Moderna's trial will be announced within the week.
Moderna's vaccine is similar to Pfizer's in that it also uses genetic material to cause the body to create antibodies. Pfizer reported Nov. 9 that its vaccine prevented 90 percent COVID-19 infections.