The government wants Moderna to push forward with various bird flu vaccines as well as mRNA shots for other influenza strains with pandemic potential.

TUESDAY, Jan. 21, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is awarding the pharmaceutical company Moderna $590 million to continue developing a vaccine to protect against bird flu.

The latest funding is a sign of how seriously the Biden administration appears to be taking the pandemic threat.

Moderna has been testing an mRNA candidate for influenza viruses like the H5 and H7 strains that are seen as pandemic threats. Others, including GSK and Pfizer, are also at work on similar shots.

According to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control, the current bird flu outbreak has caused 67 human cases of bird flu in the U.S. and one death associated with the virus.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will award roughly $590 million to Moderna to accelerate the development of mRNA-based pandemic influenza vaccines, including vaccines for avian flu strains, to ensure the United States is better prepared for future potential pandemics, according to a recent HHS news release.

The funding, which follows the $176 million the government awarded Moderna in June 2024, aims to get mRNA vaccines ready before bird flu strains currently circulating in the wild and on farms can potentially cause human outbreaks.

Moderna has been awarded approximately $590 million from the federal government to help speed up the development of an mRNA-based bird flu vaccine, health officials said.

Key Takeaways Moderna received a $590 million award from the U.S. government to speed development of a vaccine that could be used to fight bird flu.The biotech firm's mRNA-1018 candidate posted positive results in a Phase 1/2 study launched in 2023.