This column is provided by Ohio Northern University HealthWise Pharmacy.

With the coronavirus pandemic raging on, several pharmaceutical companies are in the race to produce a vaccine, including the company Moderna.

And early information suggests that the Massachusetts biotechnology company is on track to get a COVID-19 vaccine to market.

Over the last several months, the company said it has taken steps to get its vaccine, mRNA-1273, studied.

On Feb. 24, 2020, the company's clinical batch of vaccines was shipped to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for a phase I clinical study. And the first results from the study are in.

On May 18, the company issued a press release announcing that its early clinical data from the phase 1 study was showing promising results.

The study is being led by the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. It is important to note that this study was not peer-reviewed or published in a medical journal.

Although Moderna did not publish the results, the press release highlights some details about the study, including the dosages tested.

The study included 45 participants. The researchers looked at whether the participants who received the vaccine would develop detectable antibodies.

Based on this research, the company indicated that it will move forward with the next two phases of testing.

This vaccine is one of at least six other vaccines that are currently being tested in humans. Other manufacturers that are working on a coronavirus vaccine include Pfizer in collaboration with BioNTech, Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies and Sanofi.

More recently vaccine experts say the company did not produce data necessary to assess the Covid-19 vaccine. 

One factor is how little information Moderna revealed. Another factor is information for 37 trial participants is not mentioned, the vaccine experts note. There are other concerning factors the vaccine experts have called out. 

As a result, these experts recommend taking Moderna's early data with a grain of salt. 

At this time, it is not clear how soon a vaccine will become available.