Biopharmaceutical company Moderna (MRNA) has been awarded a $176 million U.S. contract from the American government to develop a bird flu vaccine for humans.
The contract, issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, comes as avian influenza spreads in U.S. cattle herds, raising the risk of infections spreading to humans.
To date, 137 different dairy herds in a dozen U.S. states have been infected with bird flu.
Three humans in the U.S. are known to have also been infected with the virus, known as H5N1, since the current outbreak began.
Scientists are warning that an accelerated spread of bird flu in human beings could lead to another global pandemic.
The U.S. government already has a vaccine against the H5N1 virus but its manufacturing capacity is limited.
Federal officials in Washington, D.C. have now tasked Moderna with making an mRNA-based bird flu vaccine that can be quickly scaled and manufactured in the event of a major outbreak.
The government contract comes at an opportune time for Moderna, whose only commercially available vaccine to date has been its shot against Covid-19, sales of which are in decline.
The stock of Moderna has fallen 5% over the last 12 months and is down 75% from a peak reached in 2021. The company’s shares are currently trading at $115.95 U.S. each.
