US pharmaceutical company Moderna Inc has seen its share price shoot up after a promising early trial for a Covid-19 vaccine.
The drug produced virus-neutralising antibodies akin to those found in patients who have recovered from the coronavirus.
The company’s share price rose 25% as news spread of the trial.
“We are investing to scale up manufacturing so we can maximise the number of doses we can produce to help protect as many people as we can from SARS-CoV-2,” Moderna Chief Executive Officer Stéphane Bancel told Reuters news agency.
About 80 groups around the world are researching vaccines and some are now entering clinical trials.
Most experts think a vaccine is likely to become available by mid-2021, about 12-18 months after the virus first emerged. But some have cautioned that there may never be one.
Source:Â bbc.com