Moderna Inc's experimental vaccine was 94.5% effective in preventing COVID-19 based on interim data from a late-stage trial, the company said on Monday, becoming the second U.S. drugmaker to report results that far exceed expectations.
Both it and Pfizer Inc's vaccine were developed with new technology known as messenger RNA (mRNA), and represent powerful tools to fight a pandemic that has infected 54 million people worldwide and killed 1.3 million.
"We are going to have a vaccine that can stop COVID-19," Moderna President Stephen Hoge said in a telephone interview.