5 days ago
US cancels $766 million pandemic flu vaccine support to Moderna
The Trump administration has withdrawn $766 million in funding previously allocated to Moderna Inc. for the development of a vaccine against potential pandemic flu, including bird H5N1 highly pathogenic H5N1 virus has caused widespread destruction in several countries, resulting in the loss of millions of animals. In the US, the virus claimed its first human life in January 2025, following exposure to infected announced on Wednesday that the US Department of Health and Human Services had rescinded the funds, which were awarded in July 2024 and again in January 2025, to support the development and procurement of its experimental vaccine.
The funding had been provided through the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), a program designed to support medical countermeasures for potential public health investigational vaccine, mRNA-1018, uses the same mRNA technology that enabled the rapid development and deployment of Covid-19 the setback, the company shared promising interim results from its early-stage clinical trial that targeted H5 bird flu virus involving 300 healthy adults. The vaccine showed a strong immune response and a favourable safety profile."While the termination of funding from HHS adds uncertainty, we are pleased by the robust immune response and safety profile observed in this interim analysis," Moderna said in a move comes amid growing skepticism within the administration toward mRNA vaccine platforms. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has publicly questioned their safety, despite extensive real-world data showing that mRNA vaccines are safe and have saved millions of lives, according to an Associated Press report.
Despite the setback, the company shared promising interim results from its early-stage clinical trial involving 300 healthy adults. ()
Bird flu, which initially spread through wild birds, has now spilled over into cattle in the US, infecting hundreds of animals across at least 17 states. As of May 28, more than 173 million poultry have been affected. At least 70 human infections have been reported, mostly mild, with one death so remain concerned that continued viral mutations could make H5N1 more dangerous or capable of human-to-human transmission, raising fears of a future had received $176 million in July 2024 and $590 million in January 2025 to support vaccine development. The latter amount was intended to fund a large-scale trial that could have evaluated the vaccine's effectiveness against potential pandemic strains, including this year, a report in The Lancet by the Global Virus Network (GVN) urged governments to ramp up virus surveillance, improve farm biosecurity, and prepare for the possibility of human-to-human spread."H5N1 is no longer just a bird flu, it has already jumped to dairy cows and humans. The virus' ability to infect both animals and humans, combined with recent genetic changes, underscores the importance of proactive surveillance," said Dr. Sten Vermund, Chief Medical Officer of the current public health risk remains low, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is closely monitoring the agency is working with state health departments to track individuals exposed to infected animals and is using existing flu surveillance systems to monitor for signs of H5 infections in Reel
