Pharmaceutical company Moderna said the US government is purchasing an additional 100 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine, DPA reported. The US government is exercising an option to purchase more doses of the vaccine after already purchasing a separate 100 million doses. The newly purchased vaccines will be delivered in the second quarter of 2021, Moderna said. The US has the option to purchase 300 million more doses of the vaccine, which has yet to receive authorization from Food and Drug Administration regulatory body. Moderna, a biotechnology company pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines to create a new generation of transformative medicines for patients, said with the US government exercising its option to purchase an additional 100 million doses the confirmed order commitment is now 200 million doses. Of the first 100 million doses purchased by the US government, approximately 20 million doses will be delivered by the end of December 2020 and the balance will be delivered in the first quarter of 2021. Today's new order of 100 million doses will be delivered in the second quarter of 2021. These deliveries are subject, in each case, to receipt of an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the vaccine. Under the terms of the agreement, Moderna will continue to leverage the Company's US-based manufacturing infrastructure to supply mRNA-1273 to the US government. As part of Operation Warp Speed, the US government has the option to purchase up to an additional 300 million doses of mRNA-1273 from Moderna. The company expects the U.S. government will provide the vaccine to Americans at no cost as previously announced. "We appreciate the confidence that the US government continues to have in mRNA-1273, our COVID-19 vaccine candidate, demonstrated by this increased supply agreement," said Stéphane Bancel, chief executive officer of Moderna. "We continue to scale up our manufacturing capability in the US and outside of the US. In parallel, we have filed for an Emergency Use Authorization with the US 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. We remain committed to helping address this global pandemic with our vaccine." "Securing another 100 million doses from Moderna by June 2021 further expands our supply of doses across the Operation Warp Speed portfolio of vaccines," said HHS Secretary Alex Azar. "This new federal purchase can give Americans even greater confidence we will have enough supply to vaccinate all Americans who want it by the second quarter of 2021." Moderna is working with the US CDC, Operation Warp Speed as well as global stakeholders to be prepared for distribution of mRNA-1273, in the event that it receives an EUA and similar global authorizations and approvals. — SPA/Businesswire
