The National Institutes of Health is planning to fund and conduct three phase 3 trials of experimental COVID-19 vaccines this summer, The Wall Street Journal reported.
John Mascola, director of the vaccine research center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the Journal the trials will test vaccines being developed by Moderna, AstraZeneca and Oxford University, and Johnson & Johnson.
A phase 3 study is the last study conducted before a vaccine is either approved or rejected by the FDA.
Each trial is expected to have about 30,000 people and more than 50 sites, the Journal reported. The sites will be in areas where the coronavirus continues to spread.
Researchers who have experience running HIV vaccine studies will help conduct the trials, according to the Journal.
Moderna's phase 3 vaccine trial is expected to start in July, followed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University's trial in August and Johnson & Johnson's in September. The vaccines can only begin phase 3 testing if they pass phase 2 trials.
The drugmakers expect results of the phase 3 trials to be available within six to eight months after they start, according to the Journal.
Pfizer could also begin a phase 3 trial of its vaccine as early as July, though it isn't being funded by the NIH.
The NIH may plan similar trials for vaccines in development by other companies, such as Sanofi and Merck, the Journal reported.
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