The U.S. government has awarded Moderna nearly $600 million to accelerate its work on various avian flu vaccines as well as mRNA vaccines against other flu strains with pandemic potential.
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has been working with Moderna since 2023 to help develop mRNA vaccines that would be needed to prevent a possible influenza pandemic, including that of bird flu. H5N1 influenza strain. Last year, the biopharmaceutical company received $176 million under the same initiative.
Moderna is already preparing to launch a phase 3 study of mRNA-1018, a vaccine against the H5 and H7 avian influenza viruses. The mRNA-1018 vaccine has produced “positive preliminary data” in a phase 1/2 study, according to Moderna, which plans to unveil the results at an upcoming medical conference.
HHS said the new funding, announced Jan. 17, will allow Moderna “to accelerate the development of an H5N1 mRNA influenza vaccine that is well matched to strains currently circulating in cows and birds and to expand clinical data supporting the use of mRNA vaccines which may be necessary if other influenza strains emerge with pandemic potential.
Moderna will also conduct a phase 3 trial of a vaccine against H7N9, another strain of avian flu.
Beyond that, HHS expects Moderna to design up to four new flu vaccines that can be put into Phase 1 studies. The hope is that this initiative will “create the necessary baseline data to enable the accelerated development of a targeted mRNA vaccine against various influenza virus subtypes with pandemic potential,” the government agency said in its statement.
The funding comes from BARDA’s Rapid Response Partnership Vehicle Consortium and was done in the twilight of the Biden administration. That will likely be good news for Moderna, which last week cut its guidance and pledged to find $1 billion in cost reductions amid unimpressive sales of COVID-19 and respiratory virus vaccines syncytial.
“Avian flu variants have proven particularly unpredictable and dangerous to humans in the past,” outgoing HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in the statement. “That’s why this response has been a top priority for the Biden-Harris Administration and HHS. Accelerating the development of new vaccines will help us stay ahead of the curve and ensure Americans have the tools they need to stay safe.
There have been 67 confirmed cases of bird flu in humans in the United States, with one death linked to the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although the agency characterizes the current public health risk as “low,” it is “carefully monitoring the situation and working with states to monitor people exposed to animals.”
