Forbes: U.S. To Buy 100 Million Doses Of Moderna Coronavirus Vaccine
TOPLINE
President Donald Trump said Tuesday the U.S. government will purchase 100 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine candidate from biotech company Moderna that is currently undergoing clinical trials.
KEY FACTS
The government is spending $1.525 billion on the deal, which amounts to roughly $15 per dose.
Moderna said the government has the option of purchasing another 400 million doses in the future as part of the agreement.
Moderna started late-stage human clinical trials on 30,000 volunteers at the end of July, and has said results may come in October.
The White House has made similar deals over the last few months with other companies developing vaccines, including Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Novavax, AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi.
The U.S. has already given $955 million to help Moderna research develop its vaccine through the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.
Moderna shares jumped 11% in after hours trading following the announcement.
CRUCIAL QUOTE
"For Operation Warp Speed, we are assembling a broad portfolio of vaccines to increase the odds that we will have at least one safe, effective vaccine as soon as the end of this year," said HHS Secretary Alex Azar.
CHIEF CRITIC
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-T.X.) slammed Moderna for selling its vaccine back to the government even after the company got federal money for the vaccine's development.
"For Moderna, the first billion was just not enough. After American taxpayers gave it over $1 billion to develop, test, and manufacture a vaccine, Moderna offers us the privilege of purchasing that same vaccine we already paid for with another $1.525 billion and an option to pay even more for additional doses. And there is no indication of how much Americans will ultimately pay themselves for the vaccine they have financed," Doggett said in a statement to Forbes.
KEY BACKGROUND
The deal is part of Operation Warp Speed, a public-private partnership launched by the federal government to develop and deliver vaccines as fast as possible. The idea behind buying initial batches of vaccines that have yet to be approved by the FDA is that the military will be ready to distribute doses as soon as one candidate is given the go-ahead. There are eight vaccines undergoing phase three trials, according to the New York Times, including a partnership between German company BioNTech and Pfizer as well as a vaccine developed by British-Swedish company AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford.
WHAT'S NEXT
Even though a vaccine might be proven safe and effective by early next year, Dr. Anthony Fauci said last month he doesn't anticipate widespread availability with hundreds of millions of doses until "several months in" to 2021.