Hope is one of the best values in life — especially during a war or a pandemic, such as the one we are experiencing.

And one of our biggest hopes now is for the development of a vaccine to prevent it in the future from ever attacking our nation again as it has at present.

Record progress is being made in developing the vaccine with scientists all over the world already in the testing phases for this complex procedure.

In this country, Moderna Inc. has announced it has submitted an Investigational New Drug Application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the company’s mRNA vaccine candidate (mRNA-1273) against the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). The application asks the administration to evaluate mRNA-1273 in Phase 2 and late-stage studies if supported by safety data from the Phase 1 student-led trials by the National Institute Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.

“Submitting this IND is an important next step in the clinical development of our mRNA vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, and we are moving rapidly to potentially address this global health emergency,” said Tal Zaks, M.C., Phd., Chief Medical Officer at Moderna.”

The institute is working with government partners to ensure that any safe and effective vaccine will be manufactured in sufficient quantities to allow expedient distribution to those at the highest risk for infection.

Another major company in the race for a vaccine for COVID-19 is Gilead Sciences. Their remdesivir drug proved an effective treatment drug in a recent study.

Stat News reported April 16 that the University of Chicago Medicine researchers saw “rapid recoveries” in 125 COVID-19 patients taking Gilead’s experimental drug remdesivir.

A large-scale human trial of another potential COVID-19 vaccine is underway at the University of Oxford in England.

Professor Sarah Gilbert, who is leading the Oxford team developing the vaccine, said the drug is being developed in partnership with the Jenner Institute and has an “80 percent chance” of success.

The experimental drug is being administered to 510 healthy volunteers between the ages of 18 and 55.

There is plenty of reason for optimism and hope that medical science will soon conquer the coronavirus that is causing so much distress.