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Moderna (MRNA) Secures BARDA Funding for Bird Flu Vaccine
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Moderna (MRNA - Free Report) announced that the U.S. government, through the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), has awarded $176 million to the company to accelerate the development of an mRNA-based vaccine program aimed at preventing the spread of the H5N1 virus, also known as bird flu, in humans.
Moderna plans to use the above funds to support the late-stage development of mRNA-1018, its investigational pandemic influenza vaccine against H5 and H7 avian influenza viruses. The deal with BARDA also includes options for large-scale production and pandemic response.
Currently, mRNA-1018 is being evaluated in an ongoing phase I/II study in healthy adults aged 18 years and older. While data from this study is expected later this year, management intends to provide an update on its late-stage plans soon.
This announcement confirms the previous reports of the government in discussions with vaccine makers to develop vaccines that target the H5N1 virus. Year to date, there have been three reported cases of H5N1 virus, all of which were discovered in dairy farm workers in Texas and Michigan. All these workers were infected after coming into contact with dairy cows infected with the H5N1 virus.
Per the latest CDC data, 12 states have confirmed bird flu cases in cows, with 136 dairy herds affected.
While the CDC believes that the risk to the general public remains low due to a lack of evidence of human-to-human transmission, the regulatory body remains vigilant. It is even using its flu surveillance systems to monitor for H5N1 activity.
Unlike traditional vaccines which can take months to produce, mRNA-based vaccines can be developed quickly and also offer manufacturing scalability, something that was observed in the case of COVID-19 vaccines. BARDA believes this to be a major advantage for mRNA vaccines, especially in case new strains/variants of the virus emerge.
Year to date, Moderna’s shares have risen 19.4% against the industry’s 6.3% fall.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Moderna is not the only company to reach an agreement with BARDA for bird flu vaccines. Earlier this May, BARDA reached a deal with CSL Seqirus for 4.8 million doses of a protein-based H5N1 bird flu vaccine.
Another company that is developing its bird flu vaccine is CureVac (CVAC - Free Report) . In April, CVAC announced that it had started a phase I/II study on its bird flu vaccine. CureVac is developing this investigational mRNA-based vaccine in collaboration with GSK.
Novavax (NVAX - Free Report) is also developing a bird flu vaccine in preclinical studies. NVAX claimed that this vaccine uses a new approach for immunizing against the virus.
Image: Bigstock
Moderna (MRNA) Secures BARDA Funding for Bird Flu Vaccine
Moderna (MRNA - Free Report) announced that the U.S. government, through the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), has awarded $176 million to the company to accelerate the development of an mRNA-based vaccine program aimed at preventing the spread of the H5N1 virus, also known as bird flu, in humans.
Moderna plans to use the above funds to support the late-stage development of mRNA-1018, its investigational pandemic influenza vaccine against H5 and H7 avian influenza viruses. The deal with BARDA also includes options for large-scale production and pandemic response.
Currently, mRNA-1018 is being evaluated in an ongoing phase I/II study in healthy adults aged 18 years and older. While data from this study is expected later this year, management intends to provide an update on its late-stage plans soon.
This announcement confirms the previous reports of the government in discussions with vaccine makers to develop vaccines that target the H5N1 virus. Year to date, there have been three reported cases of H5N1 virus, all of which were discovered in dairy farm workers in Texas and Michigan. All these workers were infected after coming into contact with dairy cows infected with the H5N1 virus.
Per the latest CDC data, 12 states have confirmed bird flu cases in cows, with 136 dairy herds affected.
While the CDC believes that the risk to the general public remains low due to a lack of evidence of human-to-human transmission, the regulatory body remains vigilant. It is even using its flu surveillance systems to monitor for H5N1 activity.
Unlike traditional vaccines which can take months to produce, mRNA-based vaccines can be developed quickly and also offer manufacturing scalability, something that was observed in the case of COVID-19 vaccines. BARDA believes this to be a major advantage for mRNA vaccines, especially in case new strains/variants of the virus emerge.
Year to date, Moderna’s shares have risen 19.4% against the industry’s 6.3% fall.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Moderna is not the only company to reach an agreement with BARDA for bird flu vaccines. Earlier this May, BARDA reached a deal with CSL Seqirus for 4.8 million doses of a protein-based H5N1 bird flu vaccine.
Another company that is developing its bird flu vaccine is CureVac (CVAC - Free Report) . In April, CVAC announced that it had started a phase I/II study on its bird flu vaccine. CureVac is developing this investigational mRNA-based vaccine in collaboration with GSK.
Novavax (NVAX - Free Report) is also developing a bird flu vaccine in preclinical studies. NVAX claimed that this vaccine uses a new approach for immunizing against the virus.
Zacks Rank
Moderna currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here.