US nears deal to fund Moderna's bird flu vaccine trial, FT reports

[May 30, 2024]  (Reuters) -The U.S. government is nearing an agreement to fund a late-stage trial of Moderna's mRNA pandemic bird flu vaccine, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, as an H5N1 outbreak spreads through egg farms and among cattle herds.

The vaccine maker's shares rose nearly 6% to $156.62 in premarket trading.

Federal funding from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) could come as soon as next month and would include a promise to procure doses if late-stage trials are successful, the report said, citing people close to the discussions.

Moderna and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comments.

The U.S., Canada and Europe have been in active talks with CSL Seqirus and GSK to acquire or manufacture H5N1 bird flu vaccines, which could be used to protect at-risk poultry and dairy workers, veterinarians and lab technicians.

The U.S. has a stockpile of bird flu vaccines matched with the strain currently circulating, as well as antivirals that could be used to treat human infections. For a major epidemic or a pandemic, the U.S. would have to scale up considerably.

U.S. officials have said they were moving bulk vaccine from CSL that closely matches the current virus into finished shots that could provide 4.8 million doses.

Test tubes are seen in front of a displayed Moderna logo in this illustration taken, May 21, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

The government is also in "active conversations" with mRNA vaccine makers Pfizer and Moderna on a potential vaccine for humans.

Last week, U.S. officials confirmed a second human case of bird flu in the country since the virus was first detected in dairy cattle in late March.

Bird flu has fueled concerns as the disease is increasingly spreading to mammals, with the first-ever outbreaks detected in dairy cows in the U.S., raising concerns about it spreading to humans through the nation's milk supply.

(Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh and Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

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