Moderna secures $590M in government funding to develop bird flu vaccine


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With bird flu spreading rapidly in the United States since it was first reported in late March 2024, the federal government has now awarded more than half a billion dollars to pharmaceutical company Moderna. The $590 million will go toward speeding up the development of its bird flu vaccine.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been nearly 70 confirmed human cases of bird flu in the United States, with one death in Louisiana. The highly pathogenic influenza has been rampant in poultry farms, most recently hitting a large commercial plant in Georgia.

An outbreak of bird flu was also reported in March 2024 in dairy cows in Texas and Kansas. A similar outbreak occurred later in the year in dairy cows in California.

Since 2023, Moderna has been working to come up with a pandemic influenza vaccine that would protect against certain viruses, such as H5N1 bird flu. Moderna previously developed a COVID-19 vaccine. However, as COVID-19 cases decreased, so have sales of the vaccine.

The new government spending will fund Moderna’s expansion of clinical studies of additional subtypes of bird flu, pay for late-stage development and licensing a vaccine.

In 2023, Moderna initiated a study to generate safety and immunization data for a bird flu vaccine shot in healthy adults, ages 18 and older. The trial included candidates against two viral strains, H5 and H7.

This is the second time Moderna has secured government funding to try to manufacture and develop a bird flu vaccine. In July 2024, it received $176 million.

While the CDC considers the public health risk low, it continues to monitor activity in people exposed to animals. In addition to Moderna, Novavax is also in the process of developing a bird flu vaccine.

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This recording was made using enhanced software.

Full story

With bird flu spreading rapidly in the United States since it was first reported in late March 2024, the federal government has now awarded more than half a billion dollars to pharmaceutical company Moderna. The $590 million will go toward speeding up the development of its bird flu vaccine.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been nearly 70 confirmed human cases of bird flu in the United States, with one death in Louisiana. The highly pathogenic influenza has been rampant in poultry farms, most recently hitting a large commercial plant in Georgia.

An outbreak of bird flu was also reported in March 2024 in dairy cows in Texas and Kansas. A similar outbreak occurred later in the year in dairy cows in California.

Since 2023, Moderna has been working to come up with a pandemic influenza vaccine that would protect against certain viruses, such as H5N1 bird flu. Moderna previously developed a COVID-19 vaccine. However, as COVID-19 cases decreased, so have sales of the vaccine.

The new government spending will fund Moderna’s expansion of clinical studies of additional subtypes of bird flu, pay for late-stage development and licensing a vaccine.

In 2023, Moderna initiated a study to generate safety and immunization data for a bird flu vaccine shot in healthy adults, ages 18 and older. The trial included candidates against two viral strains, H5 and H7.

This is the second time Moderna has secured government funding to try to manufacture and develop a bird flu vaccine. In July 2024, it received $176 million.

While the CDC considers the public health risk low, it continues to monitor activity in people exposed to animals. In addition to Moderna, Novavax is also in the process of developing a bird flu vaccine.

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Media landscape

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58 total sources

Other (sources without bias rating):

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