US Looking to Fund Bird Flu Vaccine Trial by Moderna

The US government is negotiating a deal to fund a late-stage trial of Moderna’s mRNA pandemic bird flu vaccine, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

The news comes amid one of the worst H5N1 outbreaks in the recent years, with bird flu detected in poultry farms in 48 states and dairy herds in nine states.

Federal funding from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) could come as soon as next month, and would also include a promise to procure doses if the phase-three trials turn out to be successful, the report said.

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It is expected to total several tens of millions of dollars, and could be accompanied by a commitment to procure doses if the phase-three trials are successful, it said.

Moderna and the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for a comment.

The United States, Canada and Europe have been in active talks with firms such as 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.

Last week, a second human case of bird flu was confirmed in the United States since the virus was first detected in dairy cattle in late March.

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

Since 2022, bird flu has infected more than 90 million chickens, 9,000 wild birds, 52 dairy herds and three people in the country.