Moderna Therapeutics just reported that, based on early human trials, its COVID-19 vaccine is a staggering 94.5% effective at preventing infection. This is promising news for a nation whose public health and economy have been crippled by the pandemic. And it wouldn’t have been possible, especially this quickly, if Moderna hadn’t skipped animal testing red tape that is typically forced on pharmaceutical companies by the Food and Drug Administration before a drug can be administered to humans.

Back in March, the company’s chief medical officer Dr. Tal Zaks stated, “I don’t think proving this in an animal model is on the critical path to getting this to a clinical trial.” Thankfully, the FDA listened to reason and allowed human studies to proceed. But this isn’t always the case.