US awards Moderna $590 million for bird flu vaccine development

(Reuters) -The U.S. government has awarded Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) $590 million to advance the development of its bird flu vaccine, as the country doubles down on efforts to tackle increasing infections in humans.

This is in addition to $176 million awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) last year to complete the late-stage development and testing of a pre-pandemic mRNA-based vaccine against the H5N1 avian influenza.

The award will also support the expansion of clinical studies for up to five additional subtypes of pandemic influenza, Moderna said on Friday.

“Avian flu variants have proven to be particularly unpredictable and dangerous to humans in the past. Accelerating the development of new vaccines will allow us to stay ahead and ensure that Americans have the tools they need to stay safe,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement.

The drugmaker said it is preparing to advance its experimental shot, mRNA-1018, into late-stage trials based on preliminary data from an early-to-mid stage study and plans to present the data at an upcoming medical meeting.

Shares of the company were up 5% at $35.8 in extended trading on Friday.

The award was made through the Rapid Response Partnership Vehicle (RRPV) Consortium with funding from the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.

Nearly 70 people in the U.S., most of them farmworkers, have contracted bird flu since April, as the virus has circulated among poultry flocks and dairy herds.

Most infections in humans have been mild, but one fatality was reported in Louisiana last week.

The risk to the general public from bird flu is low, and there has been no further evidence of person to person spread, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.