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Another Animal Study Provides Crucial Information in Effort to Rapidly Develop COVID-19 Vaccines

Animal studies have revealed additional encouraging data about the investigational vaccine being developed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Moderna. The candidate, named mRNA-1273, protected mice from infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The research appears today in the journal Nature. Additional research collaborators were involved in the published study.  

The findings show the investigational vaccine induced neutralizing antibodies in mice when given two intramuscular injections of a 1-microgram (mcg) dose three weeks apart. Additional experiments found that mice given two injections of the 1-mcg dose and later challenged with SARS-CoV-2 virus either 5 or 13 weeks after the second injection were protected from viral replication in the lungs and nose. Importantly, mice challenged 7 weeks after only a single dose of 1 mcg or 10 mcg of mRNA-1273 were also protected against viral replication in the lungs. The investigational vaccine also induced robust CD8 T-cell responses in mice. It did not induce the type of cellular immune response that has been linked to vaccine-associated enhanced respiratory disease. 

Today’s news is just the latest in a series of animal studies that have provided helpful data in the development of COVID-19 vaccines. Research results released last week showed the same vaccine from NIAID/Moderna was able to quickly clear the infection from the lungs of nonhuman primates that were vaccinated and then exposed. Meanwhile, a separate vaccine being developed by Johnson & Johnson has been shown to protect monkeys from infection. 

The Nature preprint article mentioned above can be found at this link.

Link to National Institutes of Health press release containing additional details


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