Can Moderna's COVID 19 Vaccine Generate Lasting Immunity?

Last week, clinicians were reassured by the publication of long anticipated initial results from COVID-19 adenovirus and messenger RNA vaccine candidates, with trials demonstrating that they appear safe and immunogenic. While there is room for optimism, it is worth asking: what are some of the challenges which the data present?

ImmunityBio CEO and Chairman Patrick Soon-Shiong, MD, spoke with Contagion about the firm's adenovirus vector investigational vaccine against SARS-CoV-2. Dr. Soon-Shiong explains why T-cell immunity could be an important metric when evaluating experimental COVID-19 vaccines.

This is the first part of a joint interview with Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong and oncologist Dr. Adam Brufsky. Dr. Brufsky has a cancer background, but has entered into research collaborations with infectious disease experts to develop our understanding of SARS-CoV-2 and published theories on the potential role of hyperglycemia in the Journal of Medical Virology.