In a milestone moment in the race for a coronavirus vaccine, the first results in humans showed Moderna's vaccine candidate led to antibody responses in a handful of healthy volunteers.
The Massachusetts biotech described Monday the immune system responses to the vaccine from this first, small study that was primarily focused on safety.
The results don't yet show whether the vaccine would prevent people from being infected with the novel coronavirus.
While mRNA has demonstrated its speed, with Moderna being the first to enter the clinic and now the first to release human results, it has never led to an approved vaccine. The Cambridge, Massachusetts biotech is now hoping its coronavirus vaccine can be its first, eyeing full regulatory approval in 2021.
Investors cheered the initial results Monday morning, sending Moderna's stock up about 25% in premarket trading. The biotech already has seen its share more than triple since the beginning of 2020, as it has advanced its coronavirus vaccine. Moderna has a market value of about $25 billion.