The $29 billion biotech company Moderna has announced on Wednesday, August 5, that they will be partnering with Amazon Web Services to become their preferred cloud partner.
Moderna is currently considered the lead COVID-19 vaccine developer as it is the first company to reach the third phase of vaccine development in late July.
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS - MAY 08: A view of Moderna headquarters on May 08, 2020 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Moderna was given FDA approval to continue to phase 2 of Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine trials with 600 participants. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Moderna Signs Big Deal With Amazon Web Services
Vaccine development could take years of research and lab testing before it can be administered to people. As one of the leading companies who joined the race for a COVID-19 vaccine, Moderna gave 30,000 people last week their first vaccine candidate that reached phase 3 of testing the United States.
At present, Moderna has been using AWS to run its everyday operations in accounting and inventory management and also to power its production facility, robotic tools, and engineering systems. According to the press release by the biotech company, this allows them to achieve greater efficiency and visibility across its operations.
Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said that with AWS, the company's researchers could have the ability to quickly design and perform experiments and, in no time, uncover novel insights to produce faster life-saving treatments.
Modernizing IT infrastructures through the use of artificial intelligence is one of the things that biotech companies, such as Moderna, are looking into helping them in the race of developing new medicines and treatments.
The race for a COVID-19 vaccine has made the biotechnology sector a sought-after market these days. Like AWS, its rival Microsoft Azure has recently inked a big cloud and artificial intelligence deal with drugmaker Novartis as well.
According to biotech analyst Michael Yee, the vaccine test results could be made public in October.
Read Next: Is Moderna Coronavirus Vaccine Leading the Race? Early Trials Show the Jab Gives Off Immunity
Moderna Enters Phase 3
Moderna Therapeutics' co-founder and chairman, Dr. Noubar Afeyan, said that the biotech company is the first US firm to enter Phase 3 of a clinical trial for their candidate COVID-19 vaccine.
The blind trial will include 30,000 volunteers in which half of them will receive Moderna's drug, and the other half will receive a placebo of sodium and water. The volunteers are 18 years old and older who are interested in participating in the clinical trial.
Afeyan said that the Food and Drug Administration's authorization would be based on how fast some 150 cases of the infection occur. If the trial proves to be successful, those people who received the vaccine should have a disproportionately lower number of cases than those who received the placebo.
At the end of the day, the FDA must ensure that the vaccine meets all the necessary safety and efficacy measures. The administration mandated at least 50% protection value for any vaccine before considering authorizing them.
Moreover, Moderna hopes to have authorization from the FDA by the last quarter of 2020. Afeyan said that they expect to have 500 million to 1 billion doses of their vaccine ready for distribution once they get the FDA authorization.
Read More: Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Trial Volunteer Suffered 'Severe Adverse Reaction'