(Reuters) – Moderna Inc said on Friday it was on track to produce 20 million doses of its experimental coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year, while maintaining its goal of readying 500 million to 1 billion doses in 2021.
Vaccines and treatments are seen as essential in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic that has shown no signs of slowing and killed over 944,000 people worldwide.
A handful of vaccines, including those from Pfizer Inc and AstraZeneca, are also being tested in large studies.
Moderna had enrolled 25,296 participants out of a planned 30,000 in its late-stage study as of Wednesday. (https://bit.ly/35PkSnc)
The company is working with Switzerland’s Lonza Group AG and Spain’s Laboratorios Farmacéuticos Rovi to make the vaccine outside the United States.
Moderna has a vaccine supply deal in place with the U.S. for 100 million doses, and has finished advanced talks with the European Union for the vaccine.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention anticipates that 35 million to 45 million doses of vaccines from the first two companies to receive authorization will be available in the United States by the end of this year.
Moderna plans to seek emergency authorization for its vaccine’s use in high-risk groups if it proves to be at least 70% effective, its chief executive officer told Reuters earlier this week.
(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
