October 1, 2020: US biotech firm Moderna will not be ready to apply for emergency authorization for its potential Covid-19 vaccine before the US Presidential election.

The company’s CEO Stéphane Bancel said, "November 25 is the time we will have enough safety data to be able to put into an EUA file that we would send to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) - assuming that the safety data is good, i.e. a vaccine is deemed to be safe."

The company’s experimental vaccine is among the leaders in the race to develop a safe and effective vaccine to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic. The candidate is currently being tested in a large decisive trial.

The race to come up with a vaccine has become a divisive issue for the U.S. Presidential election and was of significant importance in the presidential debate on Tuesday between U.S. President Donald Trump and contender Joe Biden.