Moderna starts late-stage COVID-19 vaccine trials on teenagers

Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA) announced it has dosed the first participant of late-stage trial to test its COVID-19 vaccine candidate on teenagers. The study, backed by the US Department of Health and Human Services, will involve 3,000 people aged 12-18. READ: People with severe allergies told to avoid Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine after two NHS workers have reaction Each participant will be assigned to receive a placebo or the mRNA-based inoculation at both vaccinations and will be followed through 12 months after the second vaccination. The biotech’s chief executive Stéphane Bancel said the goal is to generate data in the spring of 2021 that will support the use of the candidate in teens ahead of the 2021 academic year, so kids can return to school in a normal setting. Meanwhile, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said documents related to the jab developed by Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech were accessed in a cyber-attack. The intruders accessed the submission papers, but BioNTech said it should not affect the schedule to approval. The partners are waiting to hear on a potential emergency use in a matter of weeks.