The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced earlier today that Moderna has been awarded $176 million in funding through the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR). The funding will be used to complete development and testing of a mRNA-based vaccine against the H5N1 bird flu.
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said the vaccine is being developed in preparedness for a future public-health crisis, stating in a press release the mRNA vaccine development is the result of “lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic”:
We have successfully taken lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic and used them to better prepare for future public health crises. As part of that, we continue to develop new vaccines and other tools to help address influenza and bolster our pandemic response capabilities …. Importantly, we are doing this work in partnership with some of the nation’s leading scientists and clinicians. The Biden-Harris Administration won’t stop until we have everything we need to prepare for pandemics and other public health emergencies that impact the American public.
The three cases of human infections have been mild, with the first human case of the H5N1 virus reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on April 1.
