A Moderna influenza vaccine for avian influenza, or “bird flu,” will head into a pivotal clinical trial with $176 million in funding from the U.S. federal government.
The funding announced by Moderna on Tuesday comes from the Rapid Response Partnership Vehicle, a consortium funded by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). Moderna’s vaccine candidate, code-named mRNA-1018, is being developed to protect against pandemic influenza. Last year, Moderna began a Phase 1/2 clinical trial to test the safety and immune response of several vaccines in this program, including vaccines designed to address the H5 and H7 avian influenza strains that are closely related to the viral strains spreading in U.S. dairy cattle.
The Phase 1/2 clinical trial enrolled more than 1,500 healthy adults. The company said it expects to have results later this year, which will inform the plans to advance a vaccine into Phase 3 testing. These tests could in turn support government licensure of a pre-pandemic vaccine against H5 influenza virus. The company added that its BARDA agreement includes additional options to prepare and accelerate a response to future public health threats. Moderna previously received BARDA funding to support the development of Spikevax, its mRNA Covid-19 vaccine.
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“We are pleased to continue our collaboration with BARDA to expedite our development efforts for mRNA-based pandemic influenza vaccines and support the global public health community in preparedness against potential outbreaks,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a prepared statement.
The multistate avian flu outbreak was first reported in late March, marking the first time that bird flu viruses have been found in cows, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Public health officials are concerned because the H5 flu strain causes a highly infectious and severe disease in birds that poses a risk of spillover to humans. On April 1, the CDC confirmed one infection in a human who was exposed to dairy cows. Since then, the agency has reported two additional cases in humans who have been exposed to dairy cows. As of Monday, the CDC counted 12 states with bird flu outbreaks in dairy cows. So far, 136 dairy herds are affected.
Photo: Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg, via Getty Images
