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A $590 million contract awarded to Moderna by the U.S. government to aid in vaccine development for bird flu is being reevaluated, according to Bloomberg News,
Bloomberg reports that the review is part of a government effort to re-examine spending on RNA-based vaccines, which is based on the same science that underpinned Moderna’s (MRNA-3.89%) Covid vaccine, the report added.
The vaccine contract was announced by the Department of Health and Human Services in the final days of the Biden administration. Vaccine-skeptic Robert Kennedy Jr. now leads HHS.
At the time, HHS lauded the contract, saying it would better prepare the U.S. to respond to other emerging infectious diseases.
“This funding allows Moderna to accelerate development of an H5N1 mRNA influenza vaccine that is well matched to strains currently circulating in cows and birds and expands the clinical data supporting the use of mRNA vaccines that may be needed if other influenza strains emerge with pandemic potential.”
The original announcement is no longer on the HHS, but a catalogued version can be seen here.
The Moderna research was announced at a time when bird flu is circulating rapidly in avian population, and is partly responsible for the surge in egg prices.
The Moderna review comes on the heels of other announced “pauses” placed on vaccine development and research. Bloomberg also reported that the government pushed Vaxart Inc. to stop work on a $453 million federal contract for research on a new oral Covid vaccine.