Moderna/Sanofi: searching for a vaccine

Stock markets everywhere got off to a roaring start this week after the US drugmaker Moderna revealed “promising early results for its coronavirus vaccine candidate”, said DealBook in The New York Times. Shares in the biotech jumped by 29%. Moderna’s good tidings have succeeded in “drumming up a media cyclone of excitement”, said Arianne Cohen on FastCompany.com. But what does the breakthrough actually mean? Sadly, probably “not as much as you hope”. Phase 1 of the project succeeded in producing “neutralising antibody levels similar to those found in recovering Covid-19 patients” in lab tests. Great news! “But it doesn’t mean that the vaccine will work” – its “efficacy” at protecting real humans will only be tested in Phase 2 and 3 trials this summer. For context, it’s worth remembering that more than 100 HIV/Aids vaccines have been tested over the years and there is still no “functional” vaccine. Nonetheless, “the science behind the race for a Covid-19 jab is dazzling”, said Lex in the FT. Unfortunately, as countries jostle to have their citizens inoculated first, “vaccine nationalism” is making for “an ugly contest”. France’s Sanofi, for instance, is in the doghouse in Paris for initially granting the US “the largest pre-order” of its shots – as the early development was bankrolled by US funds. But it shouldn’t have been penalised for plain speaking. “If other countries want more clout, they will have to pay for it.”