Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine (mRNA-1273) Boosts Immune Response and Appears Safe in Older Adults in Phase 1 Study

Moderna, Inc.’s (Cambridge, MA, USA) COVID-19 vaccine (mRNA-1273) induced consistently high levels of pseudovirus neutralization antibody titers in all participants in the 56-70 and 71+ age groups in Phase 1 study.

mRNA-1273 is an mRNA vaccine against COVID-19 encoding for a prefusion stabilized form of the Spike (S) protein. In the second interim analysis of the open-label Phase 1 study of mRNA-1273, Moderna evaluated a two-dose vaccination schedule of its COVID-19 vaccine given 28 days apart in 40 healthy adult participants across two dose levels (25 and 100 µg) in two age cohorts (ages 56-70 and ages 71+), and reported results through Day 57 (one month after the second dose). The analysis found that both the 25 µg and 100 µg dose levels were generally well-tolerated in both age cohorts. Immune responses were dose-dependent with the 100 µg dose eliciting higher binding and neutralizing antibody titers, supporting the selection of the 100 µg dose for further study in the Phase 3 trial.

“These interim Phase 1 data suggests that mRNA-1273, our vaccine candidate for the prevention of COVID-19, can generate neutralizing antibodies in older and elderly adults at levels comparable to those in younger adults,” said Tal Zaks, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer of Moderna. “Given the increased morbidity and mortality of COVID-19 in older and elderly adults, these data give us optimism in demonstrating mRNA-1273’s protection in this population, which is being evaluated in the Phase 3 COVE study.”

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