(Reuters) -Moderna Inc said on Friday it has signed an agreement with the U.S. government worth as much as $1.74 billion, under which it will supply 66 million initial doses of its Omicron-adapted vaccine. The initial doses will be delivered this year and the government also has the option to purchase an additional 234 million […]
Health
Moderna signs $1.74 billion deal with U.S. govt for Omicron-adapted vaccine
(Reuters) -Moderna Inc said on Friday it has signed an agreement with the U.S. government worth as much as $1.74 billion, under which it will supply 66 million initial doses of its Omicron-adapted vaccine.
The initial doses will be delivered this year and the government also has the option to purchase an additional 234 million doses.
The bivalent booster candidate, mRNA-1273.222, contains the fast-spreading Omicron BA.4/5 strains, which are the most prevalent variants of concern in the U.S.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has asked vaccine manufacturers to target the two currently dominant subvariants for a potential fall season booster dose.
Pfizer Inc and partner BioNTech SE in June got a $3.2 billion order from the U.S. government for 105 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine, which included supplies of a tweaked Omicron-adapted vaccine, pending regulatory clearance.
(Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)