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The U.S. government will provide Moderna with $176 million to develop an avian flu vaccine as cases continue to increase nationwide in dairy cows. The H5N1 virus was detected in dairy cows earlier this year and has spread to more than 135 herds in 12 states, infecting three people so far, all with mild cases.
While federal health officials have stressed that the risk to the broader population remains low, Moderna’s funding comes a month after the U.S. government stockpiled H5 vaccines made using other platforms from other manufacturers, including CSL Seqirus and Sanofi.
But BARDA (Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority), a strategic arm of the US Department of Health and Human Services, decided to diversify its flu response capabilities by seeking help from mRNA vaccine manufacturers, a technology that has allowed the development and rapid distribution of Covid-19 vaccines.
«Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, declared that mRNA vaccine technology offers advantages in terms of efficacy, speed of development, scalability and reliability of production for addressing infectious epidemics, as demonstrated during the Covid-19 pandemic – we are pleased that our continued collaboration with BARDA will accelerate our efforts to develop an mRNA-based pandemic influenza vaccine. »
Biopharma companies have already begun studying H5 and H7 avian influenza viruses. Moderna conducted a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of its mRNA-1018 candidate last year, testing the H5 and H7 versions at different doses in a regimen of two injections three weeks apart. Previous studies have shown that the H5 virus is poorly immunogenic in humans and that vaccination requires two doses to induce a protective response. Results from the Phase 1/2 study have not yet been released, but will be released in late 2024.
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