(Reuters) -Moderna said on Wednesday it would discontinue development of its experimental vaccine to prevent cytomegalovirus, a common cause of birth defects, after it failed to meet the main goal of a late-stage trial.
Shares of the drugmaker were down over 4% in extended trading.
The study tested the vaccine, mRNA-1647, in about 7,500 women aged 16 to 40. It showed efficacy ranging between 6% and 23%, which was below Moderna’s target.
“We are clearly disappointed by the failure to prevent primary infection because it means there is still no vaccine for the prevention of congenital CMV despite the many decades of work by the field,” said Stephen Hoge, MD, president of Moderna.
(Reporting by Kamal Choudhury in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas and Maju Samuel)
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