MA Company Gets 'Fast Track' For Coronavirus Vaccine Development

CAMBRIDGE, MA — The Food and Drug Administration has given biotech company Moderna the green light to fast-track its potential coronavirus vaccine.

Moderna, based in Cambridge, last week got FDA approval to move to a second phase of testing of mRNA-1273. The Fast Track designation gives Moderna more opportunities to meet with the FDA to discuss development and makes an accelerated approval and review process possible.

"Fast track is a process designed to facilitate the development, and expedite the review of drugs to treat serious conditions and fill an unmet medical need," the FDA website says.

Moderna will begin its second phase "shortly," the company said. It will involve testing the safety of two vaccines given 28 days apart and includes 600 participants. The participants will be checked 12 months after the second vaccine.

The third phase is scheduled to start in the early summer. The company said last week that timeline would allow for approval for public sale as early as 2021.

President Trump has been saying he thinks a vaccine will be available by the end of 2020. Most experts have said it could take between 18-24 months.

A recent poll by The Boston Globe, Suffolk University and WGBH suggested Massachusetts residents were much more willing to resume normal life after the development of a vaccine.