U.S. Federal Government Awards $483 Million to Moderna for Coronavirus Vaccine Tests
Posted on 04/16/2020
Moderna Inc. disclosed it will get up to $483 million from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to accelerate development of a COVID-19 vaccine. COVID-19 is the Wuhan coronavirus. This is to accelerate Moderna’s development of the mRNA-1273 vaccine candidate and fund it through U.S. Food and Drug Administration licensure. Moderna is keen on starting the Phase 2 study in the second quarter of 2020 and get through Phase 3 testing by the fall of 2020.
Moderna plans to hire 150 new employees in the U.S. The first patient in the Phase 1 trial received a dose of the vaccine candidate March 16, 2020.
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Competitor Gilead Sciences’ antiviral drug Remdesivir is also another candidate to treat COVID-19. The University of Chicago Medicine solicited 125 patients with the novel coronavirus into Gilead’s two late-stage clinical trials. Both Remdesivir and malaria drug hydroxychloroquine are in clinical trials to see their effectiveness in treating COVID-19. On March 30, 2020, the U.S. FDA designated hydroxychloroquine for emergency use, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services immediately accepted 30 million donated doses from Novartis’ Sandoz unit.
Japanese drugmaker Fujifilm is boosting production of influenza antiviral Avigan (favipiravir) as a possible COVID-19 treatment. Avigan is developed by Fujifilm unit Toyama Chemical.
