Federal government awards Moderna $176 million in drive for bird-flu shot

The U.S. government awarded $176 million to drugmaker Moderna on Tuesday to speed up work on a bird-flu vaccine.

The move reflects mounting fears that avian influenza, specifically the H5N1 strain that has infected more than 100 cattle herds, could spill over into humans. Only three persons in the U.S. have gotten the virus but officials are on guard against another health crisis.

The government is working with other drugmakers, including CSL Seqirus and Sanofi, to develop and stockpile bird-flu vaccines. 

However, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority’s decision to fund the Moderna effort shows faith in the messenger-RNA company’s ability to make vaccines quickly and in sufficient numbers to respond to an outbreak.

“mRNA vaccine technology offers advantages in efficacy, speed of development, and production scalability and reliability in addressing infectious disease outbreaks, as demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said.

Three farmworkers, one in Texas and two in Michigan, have tested positive for the bird virus. Two had minor symptoms such as pink eye, though one had respiratory issues. All three recovered.

Moderna was a major player during the coronavirus pandemic. Alongside Pfizer, it developed one of the two major vaccine options against COVID-19, using mRNA technology that teaches the body’s cells how to identify and attack pathogens.

Moderna said it started trying mRNA vaccines against H5 and H7 avian influenza viruses in 2023. It expects results this year that will inform its phase 3 plans.

There isn’t a general need for the larger population to be vaccinated against avian flu, though dairy and poultry workers would likely benefit, according to Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

“The government is seeking to diversify the types of avian influenza vaccines in its stockpile and Moderna’s mRNA vaccine technology, which has been highly successful with COVID, will be important for any future avian influenza pandemic,” he said.

The government and Moderna relied heavily on each other during the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials in Washington desperately wanted its vaccine, and the drugmaker benefited from guaranteed government purchases of the shots it produced.

Yet Senate Health Committee Chairman Bernard Sanders, Vermont independent, took Moderna to task for significantly raising the list price of its COVID-19 vaccine after working alongside government researchers during part of the development phase. 

As the COVID-19 threat receded and the shots shifted to the regular market, the drugmaker raised the price of its shot to $130. The government had paid about $26 per shot.

Moderna defended the price hike as reasonable, given the uncertain demand for the coronavirus shots and its years of work to develop the mRNA technology behind its vaccines.