Moderna gets U.S. government funding for bird-flu vaccine development

By Eleanor Laise

HHS-funded consortium awards $176 million to support late-stage trials of H5 flu vaccine

Moderna Inc.'s efforts to develop a bird-flu vaccine are getting a boost from the U.S. government, the company said Tuesday.

The vaccine maker (MRNA) said it received a $176 million award to speed the development of mRNA-based pandemic-flu vaccines. The funding is through the Rapid Response Partnership Vehicle, a consortium funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.

The money will support the late-stage development of a vaccine against H5 influenza virus, the flu subtype currently causing a multistate outbreak among dairy cattle in the U.S. and raising concerns about a potential flu pandemic. The agreement also includes additional options to develop responses to future public-health threats, Moderna said in a release.

The award comes as public-health officials are ramping up the bird-flu response. BARDA last week released a pandemic-flu strategy detailing steps to encourage the development of vaccines that can quickly help fight new virus strains, among other measures.

Bird flu in recent months has affected well over 100 dairy herds in 12 states, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The virus's broader spread in mammals has amplified concerns about whether it may evolve to transmit easily among humans. The three U.S. human bird-flu cases reported this year have all been tied to dairy-cow exposure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Moderna last year launched a phase 1/2 study of its experimental pandemic-flu vaccine, mRNA-1018, focused on the shot's safety and ability to elicit immune responses in adults 18 and older. Results of that study, which includes vaccine candidates against both H5 and H7 bird-flu viruses, are expected later this year, Moderna said.

The vaccine maker confirmed in May that it was in discussions with the federal government to advance its pandemic-flu candidate.

The mRNA vaccine technology "offers advantages in efficacy, speed of development, and production scalability and reliability in addressing infectious-disease outbreaks, as demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic," Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said in a statement Tuesday.

Moderna's stock has climbed 16.6% this year to date, while the S&P 500 SPX is up 14.8%.

-Eleanor Laise

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07-02-24 0731ET

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