22 September 2020 - - The Canadian government has increased its confirmed order commitment to 20m doses of US-based biotechnology company Moderna, Inc's (NASDAQ: MRNA) vaccine candidate against COVID-19, mRNA-1273, the company said.

This updated agreement comes as Moderna's Phase 3 COVE study has enrolled more than 75% of its participants, 11,879 of whom have received their second vaccination as of September 18, 2020.

To provide additional transparency in the context of the pandemic, the company also made the complete, unredacted protocol for the Phase 3 trial of mRNA-1273 available online on Thursday, September 17.

Moderna remains on track to be able to deliver up to 56 m doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to help protect Canadians beginning in 2021.

The Canadian vaccine supply will be sourced from Moderna's European production capacity with its strategic manufacturing partner Lonza of Switzerland, and ROVI of Spain for fill-finish services.

Moderna is advancing messenger RNA science to create a new class of transformative medicines for patients.

mRNA medicines are designed to direct the body's cells to produce intracellular, membrane or secreted proteins that can have a therapeutic or preventive benefit and have the potential to address a broad spectrum of diseases.

The company's platform builds on continuous advances in basic and applied mRNA science, delivery technology and manufacturing, providing Moderna the capability to pursue in parallel a robust pipeline of new development candidates.

Moderna is developing therapeutics and vaccines for infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases and cardiovascular diseases, independently and with strategic collaborators.

Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., Moderna currently has strategic alliances for development programs with AstraZeneca plc and Merck and Co., Inc., as well as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), an agency of the US Department of Defense, and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), a division of the Office of the Assistant secretary for Preparedness and Response within the US Department of Health and Human Services.