Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine next up for FDA panel

A week on from its review of the Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech (Nasdaq: BNTX) coronavirus vaccine, the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) overworked Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee will consider the case for approving another jab.

Like the product approved after last week’s meeting, Moderna’s (Nasdaq: MRNA) candidate is an mRNA-based vaccine that has shown more than 90% efficacy in a late-stage trial, though it remains stable at -20° C (-4°F) for up to six months, unlike the Pfizer jab which needs to be kept at -70° C over long periods.

The US government has already agreed to buy 200 million doses of Moderna’s vaccine, more than the 100 initially ordered from Pfizer.