Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine stable at refrigerator temperature for 30 days

American drug maker Moderna has said that its COVID-19 vaccine remains stable in refrigerators for 30 days, a revelation that eases concerns around large scale rollout. Moderna Inc. on November 16 announced that its vaccine candidate mRNA-1273 has proven to be 94.5% effective. Later, the company announced that the drug could also be stored at 36 degrees to 46 degrees Fahrenheit for up to 30 days. In addition, the vaccine also remained stable for 12 hours at room temperature. 

Speaking to CNBC, company’s CEO  Stephane Bancel, said that the drug could also be stored for longer-term and shipped. In that case, the vaccine just needs to be kept at freezer temperature of -4 degrees Fahrenheit, a temperature that distributers were already familiar with. Bancel also stressed that Moderna’s vaccine, unlike it’s competitors, won’t require dilution before it's administered to patients adding that it was a ““big differentiator of the product.”

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Moderna announces 94.5% Efficacy of COVID vaccine

Announcing results of its phase three trials, Moderna on November 16 reported that its COVID-19 vaccine candidate has proven to be 94.5% effective. The biotechnology company has informed that it intends to submit the COVID-19 vaccine candidate for an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) with the United States' Food & Drug Administration (FDA). The analysis released by Moderna which has reported 94.5% efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine was based on results of more than 30,000 participants in the US. 

The analysis report of the Moderna vaccine revealed that the 'preliminary analysis suggests a broadly consistent safety and efficacy profile across all evaluated subgroups. Moderna's Phase 3 trials are randomized and including providing vaccine shots at the 100 µg dose level in 30,000 participants in the U.S., ages 18 and older. 

On November 10, Pfizer Inc announced that its mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate which was found 90 per cent effective in the first interim analysis from Phase III study, will be distributed in December across the US, Pfizer confirmed in a press release. Developed with the German partner BioNTech SE, Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine was declared effective against SARS-CoV-2 by the independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) in an analysis conducted on November 8, 2020. 

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