Moderna's mRNA bird flu vaccine trial is close to getting U.S. government funding

The U.S. government is close to finalizing a deal to fund a late-stage trial of Moderna’s mRNA H5N1 bird flu vaccine, as the virus continues to spread rapidly among poultry and cattle and has already infected two humans in the United States.

The Financial Times reports that the funding, which could total tens of millions of dollars, will come from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). The deal also would include a commitment to purchase doses of the vaccine if the trial is successful.

“Moderna can confirm we are in discussions with the U.S. Government on advancing our pandemic flu candidate, mRNA-1018,” the pharma company told Quartz in an emailed statement. “The H5 vaccines in this trial cover the same clade as the currently circulating variant in the United States.”

Moderna said that dosing for early-stage trials of mRNA-1018 has been completed and the company expects to have data soon. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Moderna stock rose about 3% during pre-market trading on Thursday following the news. Its stock has soared about 40% since April 1, when the first human infection from the current bird flu outbreak was reported.

The U.S. government is also in “active conversations” with Pfizer about an mRNA bird flu vaccine, according to Reuters.

The news comes as U.S. officials are weighing whether to vaccinate workers that are in close contact with the virus.

Dawn O’Connell, assistant secretary of the U.S. Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, said that the government is “looking closely” at vaccinating farm workers, Reuters reported. This month, a second dairy farm worker was reported to have been infected with the virus.

Last week, O’Connell said the U.S. has moved forward with filling about 4.8 million doses of bird flu vaccine into vials from a national stockpile of bulk vaccines.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania are also developing their own mRNA vaccine to combat the spread of H5N1.