Part of the first, the American company Moderna intends to stay one step ahead. On Monday, the American biotechnology company announced the first positive results of its tests conducted to develop a vaccine against Covid-19, immediately increasing its share price. But experts call for caution.
Moderna, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of those “biotechs” that abound in the United States. They manage to raise tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars from public or private investors to finance their research for drugs or vaccines. In France, "there are enormous financial, administrative and cultural obstacles which do not allow us to be competitive in the number of products on the market", regretted last August Maryvonne Hiance, the president of the association France Biotech, in the review L'Usine nouvelle.
$ 478 million contributed by the US government
The American company, created about ten years ago and headed by the French Stéphane Bance, was able to conduct phase 1 of its trials of a vaccine “anti Covid-19” on March 16 on 45 individuals. To finance her research, she was able to count on the American public agency Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), which paid her no less than $ 478 million.
This Monday, Moderna assured that its product had generated in eight volunteers antibodies similar to those observed in patients naturally contaminated with the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. This would make them immune to Covid-19.
However, the full results of this phase 1 are not yet known. This leaves several observers reserved. “The scientific or medical announcement behind this is quite weak. She says that the vaccine is not toxic and that it induces antibodies, which is the least of things ", estimates near Parisien an expert of medical research which prefers to remain anonymous vis-à-vis its employer.
"So that should encourage us to remain cautious. We do not yet know the quality of these antibodies, their concentration, or the percentage of individuals who responded, ”he adds.
Phases 2 and 3 in June and July
As of Monday, Stephen Evans, professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, told AFP that it was "very difficult to be sure of the results from a press release".
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Moderna also uses new messenger RNA technology. Rather than injecting a low dose of the virus, the principle is to incorporate genetic molecules into the body that encourage it to produce harmless proteins from the virus itself. The goal is to trigger the immune response and therefore the production of antibodies. But this technique has never yet demonstrated its effectiveness on a large scale.
This will be the whole point of phase 2 and especially phase 3 of the tests, carried out on several hundred patients, and which must begin respectively in June and then in July. "We're going to have to run trials where you vaccinate a lot, a lot of people, and then monitor them over the next few months to make sure they don't get sick," said Tal Zaks, medical director of Moderna, when asked about CNN .
The company, which aims to put its vaccine on the market by the end of the year, has already sealed an agreement with the Swiss group Lonza to produce up to a billion doses per year.
Valuation at 30 billion dollars
Without waiting, investors celebrated in their own way the announcement of these first results that Donald Trump, former real estate tycoon, described as "narcotic". Moderna's share soared nearly 20% on Wall Street in a few hours Monday, increasing its valuation to $ 30 billion.
“The stock market plays on risk and on the emotional side. From the moment you fulfill an expectation, it is exhilarating and investors see a double interest in it: that of public health and a potential financial jackpot ", judge Anne Sénéquier, doctor and co-director of the Observatory for the global health at Iris.
"This announcement is good news because they would not make it if there was nothing behind it. But it is only a very first step which above all raises the stock market and which delights investors. Someone who says to himself I don't know what to do with my money will be able to think , well, I'm going to invest on it ”, judges our expert. The Wall Street newspaper was right, calling for "caution when handling the white-hot action of Moderna."