Moderna was awarded an additional US$590 million ($807.18 million) from the US government to help the company develop a vaccine aimed at protecting people from bird flu.
The funding will support late-stage development and licensing of pre-pandemic vaccines and expansion of human studies for up to five additional subtypes of pandemic influenza, according to a statement Friday.
First discovered in 1996 in geese bred in southern China, the H5N1 strain has caused hundreds of deaths in people over the years, mainly via exposure to infected animals. The version of the virus spreading in North America right now has led to only a few serious cases, but concerns have been rising since a death was linked to the virus in Louisiana earlier this month.
Since 2023, Moderna has been studying a vaccine to keep people from getting infected with H5N1, which has been decimating flocks of birds throughout the nation. It has also run rampant in herds of dairy cows and occasionally spread to farm workers.
In July, the company received US$176 million from the US government to speed development of the vaccine, which uses messenger RNA, the same technology that allowed quick development of Covid-19 shots. Based on positive preliminary data, Moderna is preparing to advance the vaccine into a late-stage study.
Meanwhile, US public health officials are stepping up efforts to detect and contain the ongoing bird flu outbreak. On Thursday, officials pushed for faster bird flu testing in hospitalised patients, adding urgency to their efforts to identify human cases.
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Moderna shares rose 4.2% after US markets closed. They’ve lost two-thirds of their value over the past 12 months.
The company said it plans to share results from its early-stage bird flu vaccine trial at an upcoming scientific meeting.
