It’s a deal! The US Government negotiated with Cambridge-based drugmaker Moderna to buy 100 million more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine they are expected to receive from the company in 2021.
As the largest pharmaceutical companies struggle to provide a global supply of vaccines to combat the coronavirus vaccines, Trump officials decided to double up on Moderna’s mRNA-1273 vaccine supply. The administration previously agreed to purchase 100 million doses of the vaccine, bringing its total purchase commitment to 200 million doses.
Approximately 20% of the first 100 million doses bought by the government will be delivered by the end of the month. The remaining 80 million doses are expected to be delivered in Q1 2021. The additional 100 million doses that was ordered on Friday will be delivered in Q2 2021. These vaccine deliveries are dependent upon an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The FDA advisory panel will meet this Thursday to review Moderna’s vaccine and determine if it should receive full approval.
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“We appreciate the confidence that the U.S. government continues to have in mRNA-1273, our COVID-19 vaccine candidate, demonstrated by this increased supply agreement,” said Stéphane Bancel, Founding CEO of Moderna Chief Executive Officer. “We continue to scale up our manufacturing capability in the U.S. and outside of the U.S. In parallel, we have filed for an Emergency Use Authorization with the U.S. FDA and a Conditional Marketing Authorization with the European Medicines Agency, and we will continue to work with regulatory agencies around the globe to continue the rolling review process.”
Alex Azar, the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, has been pushing for an EUA approval of Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccine. Although there are already 100 million vaccine doses that have been ordered from Pfizer/BioNTech, Azar believes that the new federal purchase more doses will further expand the country’s vaccination potential and provide greater confidence in the ability to vaccinate all Americans who want it by the end of Q2 2021.
