---
title: "Drugmaker Ships First Batch of Experimental Coronavirus Vaccines"
description: "The pharma company Moderna Inc. just shipped a batch of experimental coronavirus vaccine to federal researchers, and tests could begin by April."
date: "2020-02-25"
modified: "2020-02-25"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/drugmaker-ships-experimental-coronavirus-vaccines"
categories:
  - "Health & Medicine"
  - "Medical"
  - "Pathogens"
  - "Viruses"
tags:
  - "coronavirus"
  - "covid19"
  - "vaccine"
---

# Drugmaker Ships First Batch of Experimental Coronavirus Vaccines

![The pharma company Moderna Inc. just shipped a batch of experimental coronavirus vaccine to federal researchers, and tests could begin by April.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/drugmaker-ships-experimental-coronavirus-vaccines2.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Scientific Animations/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

Scientists at the pharmaceutical company Moderna Inc. just shipped out a batch of an experimental vaccine that might protect against the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

The company sent the first batch of the vaccine to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) on Monday, *[The Wall Street Journal ](<https://www.wsj.com/articles/drugmaker-moderna-delivers-first-coronavirus-vaccine-for-human-testing-11582579099>)*[reports](<https://www.wsj.com/articles/drugmaker-moderna-delivers-first-coronavirus-vaccine-for-human-testing-11582579099>). There, federal scientists will investigate it and — if everything goes well — begin clinical trials on human participants as soon as April.

Every day [brings new reports](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/coronavirus-death-toll-graph>) of COVID-19 cases and fatalities, but shipping and potentially testing a vaccine within three months is blazingly fast compared to the usual pace at which new drugs and vaccines get developed.

For instance, the *WSJ* reports that it took 20 months for NIAID to begin [testing a vaccine](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/biologists-printing-deadly-virus>) for SARS back in the early 2000s.

"Going into a Phase One trial within three months of getting the sequence is unquestionably the world indoor record," NIAID Director Anthony Fauci told the *WSJ*. "Nothing has ever gone that fast."

And, to be fair, there's no guarantee that Moderna's vaccine will work — most drugs explored in clinical trials don't.

"You're never sure until you're at the end what you have," Bruce Gellin, president of global immunization at the Sabin Vaccine Institute, told the *WSJ*.

Results from this first human trial will be available in July or August. That may not help people now, but could lessen future outbreaks. Some officials, including Fauci, are concerned that COVID-19 could become a seasonal outbreak like the flu.

Regardless of the trial's outcome, Moderna is already reaping the rewards of its quick work: stock prices jumped [nearly 15 percent](<https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/modernas-new-covid-19-vaccine-ready-for-human-trials-stock-up-15-2020-02-25>) as soon as it made the announcement.

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)