US boosts funds in Moderna COVID-19 vaccine contract to $1.25 bn; Israel strikes new deal

Pharmaceutical company Moderna Inc on Wednesday announced that the US has expanded the funding in its COVID-19 vaccine agreement from $236 million to $1.25 billion to assist the firm with the additional costs for trials and research. Moderna and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) had initially reached a deal worth $483 million in July, 2020. In its regulatory filing, the company stated that as of March 31, 2021, the funding net of revenue earned under the BARDA Contract was $317 million, prior to the increase in the funds on the contract.  

Moreover, Moderna struck a new agreement with Sanofi to manufacture its messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics, vaccines, sterile manufacturing services, and supply packaging for up to 200 million doses to be supplied to the US beginning in September 2021. In August last year, the Biden administration struck a $1.53 billion deal with Moderna to procure 100 million doses and flexibility in the agreement to purchase 400 million more doses. A new research by the US CDC found that the single dose of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine was 80 percent effective in preventing infections. It added that the vaccines’ effectiveness jumped to 90 percent nearly two weeks after the individual was administered with the second shot. 

We welcome the opportunity to work with Sanofi on fill/finish manufacturing for the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine in the U.S. We would like to thank the Department of Health and Human Services and the Biden Administration for their assistance in securing this additional capacity, said Juan Andres, Moderna’s Chief Technical Operations and Quality Officer.

This additional production will help us continue to scale up our manufacturing capacity in the United States.

New supply agreement with Israel

Last week, Moderna announced a new supply agreement with Israel for the year 2022. Under the terms of the agreement, Israel was also given an option to purchase doses of one of Moderna’s variant-specific vaccine candidates subject to regulatory approval. Israel had struck two deals to procure a total of 10 million doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine. The Israeli Ministry of Health had authorized COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna for use on January 4, 2021. “We appreciate the continued confidence and collaboration with the Israel Ministry of Health with this new agreement,” said Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna. “This is an important moment for our company as the first firm order for 2022 supply and for the supply of our variant-specific booster vaccine candidates against COVID-19,” he added.