Anthony Fauci, the leading infectious disease expert in the US, predicted positive data from a second Covid-19 vaccine could come quickly on the heels of this week’s strong trial results from Pfizer and BioNTech.

Dr Fauci told the FT Live Global Pharmaceutical Summit on Wednesday that he was optimistic about a forthcoming update on the vaccine from biotech group Moderna and would “be surprised if we didn’t see a similar degree of efficacy” to the positive results released by Pfizer and BioNTech on Monday.

Moderna said later on Wednesday that it now had enough cases to begin the interim analysis of data from its Phase 3 trials, after Covid-19 cases surged in the US and the country saw a significant increase in the rate of infection in the past week.