Moderna vaccine efficacy estimated at 94.5% and more stable

Today (16 November), the Moderna pharmaceutical company published phase 3 results for its mRNA vaccine indicating an estimated vaccine efficacy of 94.5%. Moderna’s vaccine may be easier to roll out, especially in developing countries, as it can remain stable at standard refrigerator temperatures of 2° to 8°C for 30 days, as opposed to the ultra-low temperatures required by the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine.

On 24 August, the European Commission concluded exploratory talks with Moderna to purchase a potential vaccine against COVID-19. Moderna is the fifth company with which the Commission has concluded talks, following Sanofi-GSK on 31 July, Johnson & Johnson on 13 August, CureVac on 18 August, in addition to the signature of an Advance Purchase Agreement with AstraZeneca on 14 August.

The Moderna contract envisages the possibility for all EU member states to purchase the vaccine, as well as to donate to lower and middle-income countries. The initial purchase would be for 80 million doses for the EU, plus an option to purchase up to a further 80 million doses, to be supplied once a vaccine that has proven to be safe and effective against COVID-19 has been approved by regulatory authorities.

At the time, Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said: “Today's outcome following the talks with Moderna show that we deliver on our commitment to get access to a safe and effective vaccine. I am pleased to see that we continue to fulfil our target of having a diversified portfolio of vaccines – a necessity to ensure eventual success and protecting our citizens against coronavirus.”

Moderna is a US-based company pioneering the development of a new class of vaccines based on messenger RNA (mRNA). mRNA plays a fundamental role in human biology, transferring the instructions which direct cells in the body to make proteins, including proteins that may prevent or fight disease.

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