Moderna Inc. had to dispose of 400,000 doses of its experimental coronavirus inoculation due to a filtration issue that arose during the final stages of manufacturing, Bloomberg reported, citing Moncef Slaoui, Operation Warp Speed’s chief scientific adviser.
The 400,000 doses, which hadn't yet been put into vials, were part of a larger four-million batch of the vaccine, the adviser pointed out.
According to the company’s spokesman, Ray Jordan, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based firm is set to meet its earlier stated goal of producing 20 million doses by the end of this month, and 85 to 100 million doses for the US in the first quarter of 2021.
Jordan refused to comment on the filtration issue that allegedly prompted the disposal of the large quantity of doses.
Moderna’s two-dose regimen is based on messenger RNA technology similar to the one used in the Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE vaccine approved for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration last week.
The Moderna vaccine, which was earlier reviewed by federal medical advisers, is set to be authorised for emergency use on Friday, allowing the company to begin shipping large batches of the shot.
After the panel's endorsement, FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said his agency had informed Moderna it would work "rapidly" to obtain the authorisation. Regulators reported earlier this week that the said inoculation was safe and 94% effective.
Incumbent President Donald Trump has already taken to Twitter to report "the overwhelming authorisation" of the vaccine; however, the FDA hasn't yet released any information in this regard.
Moderna vaccine overwhelmingly approved. Distribution to start immediately.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 18, 2020
The US has clocked more coronavirus cases and related deaths than any other country this week, with the death toll topping 300,000.
