US biotech firm Moderna reported "positive interim" results on Monday in the first clinical tests of its vaccine against the new coronavirus performed on a small number of volunteers.
The complete results of the phase 1 test, the first in the development of a vaccine and which in this case involved 45 participants, were not yet known.
"These interim phase 1 data, while early, demonstrate that vaccination with mRNA-1273 elicits an immune response of the magnitude caused by natural infection," Tal Zaks, Moderna's chief medical officer, said.
The clinical test was carried out by the National Institutes of Health, and the US government has invested a half billion dollars in the development of Moderna's vaccine candidate.
Phase 2 tests, with a larger number of subjects, should begin soon, and according to Moderna.
