Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine candidate moves into late-stage trial

[July 27, 2020]  (Reuters) - Moderna Inc <MRNA.O> said on Monday it has started a U.S. government-backed late-stage trial to assess its COVID-19 vaccine candidate in about 30,000 adults who do not have the respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus.

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Moderna's shares were up 11% at $81.31 before the bell.

The trial, named COVE, is the first to be implemented under the U.S. government's Operation Warp Speed that aims to accelerate the development, manufacturing and distribution of therapeutics and vaccines for COVID-19.

The federal government is supporting Moderna's vaccine project with nearly a billion dollars and has chosen it as one of the first to enter large-scale human trials.

The main goal of the study will be prevention of the symptomatic COVID-19 disease, the company said.

(Reporting by Manojna Maddipatla in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)

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