hapabapa
Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) on Tuesday announced a $176M contract from the U.S. government to accelerate the development of messenger-RNA-based vaccines targeting several influenza strains, including the bird flu family of viruses.
The company said that the funding channeled through the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is expected to support late-stage trials for a vaccine against the H5 flu virus.
The agreement is expected to fund a late-stage trial for the vaccine, scheduled to start in 2025, Bloomberg reported, citing Dawn O’Connell, assistant secretary for preparedness and response. Moderna (MRNA) expects to release early-stage data for its mRNA-based bird flu shot within the next few weeks.
The contract comes as the U.S. reports bird flu cases attributed to the H5N1 strain among cattle herds and farmworkers.
“Our job is to be prepared should that change,” O’Connell said. “If you had asked any expert in 2018 what they expected to be the next pandemic, they would have said a highly virulent flu,” she added.
The BARDA agreement also includes terms to ensure “fair pricing” for the American taxpayer, O’Connell said.