DRUG maker Moderna says testing for coronavirus vaccine encouraging

US based drug maker Moderna Inc claims the testing undertaken as of now shows encouraging results for developing the Covid-19 vaccine. 
Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority’s (BARDA) total funding for the experimental vaccine of Moderna, the first in the United States to begin human trials of a coronavirus vaccine, is now about $955 million. We are entering the final stage before distribution and marketing. Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marc Siegel reports after discussing  Moderna’s development of the coronavirus vaccine and the potential for distribution by the end of the year. The drugmaker says the additional funding of 472 million USD will be used to support its late-stage clinical development and the expanded Phase 3 study of its vaccine candidate. Moderna Inc said on Sunday, July 26 it received an additional $472 million from the U.S. government’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to support the development of its novel coronavirus vaccine. In April, Moderna had received $483 million from the U.S. federal agency that funds disease-fighting technology when the experimental vaccine was at an early-stage trial conducted by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.  Phase 3 study, conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, will commence on Monday involving about 30,000 participants, according to the company. Moderna said it remains on track to be able to deliver about 500 million doses per year and possibly up to 1 billion doses per year, beginning in 2021. Meanwhile, a Seattle based woman who was the first person in the U.S. to receive an experimental COVID-19 vaccine test shot, says she feels “fantastic” Jennifer Haller aged 43 had received the shot in March as part of a first-stage study of the vaccine, named mRNA-1273. The study is taking place at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Research Institute. KOMO News reports that Haller, operations manager at a small tech company, is not feeling any ill effects.