The Trump administration has canceled $766 million awarded to drugmaker Moderna Inc. to develop a vaccine towards potential pandemic influenza viruses, together with the H5N1 hen flu.
The corporate mentioned it was notified Wednesday that the Well being and Human Companies Division had withdrawn funds awarded in July 2024 and in January to pay for growth and buy of its investigational vaccine.
The funds had been awarded by way of the Biomedical Superior Analysis and Growth Authority, or BARDA, a program that focuses on medical therapies for potential pandemics.
The brand new vaccine, referred to as mRNA-1018, used the identical expertise that allowed growth and rollout of vaccines to struggle Covid-19 in document time.
Well being Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has expressed deep skepticism relating to the protection of mRNA vaccines.
The cancelation got here as Moderna introduced optimistic interim outcomes from an early-stage trial of the vaccine that focused H5 hen flu virus, examined in 300 wholesome adults.
“While the termination of funding from HHS adds uncertainty, we are pleased by the robust immune response and safety profile observed in this interim analysis,” the corporate mentioned in a press release.
H5N1 hen flu viruses spilled from wild hen into cattle within the U.S. final yr, infecting a whole bunch in a number of states. No less than 70 folks within the U.S. have been sickened by hen flu infections, principally gentle. One particular person died. Scientists worry that continued mutation of the virus might enable it to grow to be extra virulent or extra simply unfold in folks, with the chance that it might set off a pandemic.
Moderna acquired $176 million in July 2024 and $590 million in January. The January award would have supported a late-stage medical trial that would have decided the vaccine’s efficacy towards pandemic viruses, together with hen flu, an organization spokesman mentioned.
The Related Press Well being and Science Division receives help from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Instructional Media Group and the Robert Wooden Johnson Basis. The AP is solely answerable for all content material.
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