Moderna, along with its report earlier of financial results for the first quarter of 2020, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration completed its review of the company’s Investigational New Drug, or IND, application for its novel coronavirus – SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19 – vaccine candidate, mRNA-1273, allowing it to proceed to Phase 2 study, expected to begin shortly. The company also noted it is finalizing protocol for Phase 3 study of mRNA-1273, expected to begin in early summer of 2020. In pre-market trading, Moderna shares are up $6.78, or 13.9%, to $55.73.