Israel nearing deal with Moderna on coronavirus vaccine supply

PanARMENIAN.Net - Israel is close to signing a deal with US biotech firm Moderna to supply it with a vaccine against Covid-19 if the company’s drug development is successful, Channel 13 TV reported Sunday, June 14, according to Times of Israel.

Moderna Therapeutics is a Cambridge, Mass.-based biotech company co-founded by Armenian entrepreneur Noubar Afeyan.

The company announced last week that it will enter the third and final stage of its clinical trial in July with 30,000 participants.

The report comes as countries jostle to ensure that they will be among the first to receive vaccines when they are developed. It did not divulge any of the parameters of the deal, saying only that it would be signed soon.

Moderna's vaccine, which is the first experimental Covid-19 vaccine in the U․S․ is on track to begin a huge study next month to prove if it really can fend off the coronavirus, its manufacturer has said. The vaccine will be tested in 30,000 volunteers - some given the real shot and some a dummy shot.