The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has provided Moderna's potential COVID-19 vaccine with 'fast track' status to speed up the regulatory review process.

"A vaccine or drug that gets the “fast track” designation is eligible for the agency’s “priority review” status, under which the FDA aims to make a decision on approving the drug within six months," Reuters reported.

Over 100 potential COVID-19 vaccines are currently under development, including several undergoing clinical trials. However, the World Health Organization warned in April that a vaccine would take at least 12 months.

Moderna expects to begin the last stage of vaccine research in early summer and notes there is a chance of approval of the application in 2021.

Pharmaceutical companies such as Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer Inc, which is working with Germany’s BioNTech SE, are also working to develop vaccines for the novel coronavirus.

Moderna has received $ 483 million last month in funding from a US government agency to accelerate vaccine development.