President Trump Signs $1.5B Deal with Moderna for 100 Million Doses of Coronavirus Vaccine

This week President Trump announced that the U.S. government has signed a $1.5 billion deal with Moderna to purchase 100 million doses of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine.

“We are investing in the development and manufacture of the top six vaccine candidates to ensure rapid delivery. The military is ready to go, they’re ready to deliver a vaccine to Americans as soon as one is fully approved by the FDA and we’re very close to that approval,” Trump said during a press conference at the White House on Tuesday.

According to Moderna, the deal for the vaccine will give the federal government the option to purchase up to an additional 400 million doses. The vaccine is now in late-stage human trials.

In a press release, the company said the United States had already invested $955 million to develop the vaccine, bringing its total investment up to $2.48 billion.

Through Operation Warp Speed, the U.S. government has now purchased initial batches of vaccines from Moderna, GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi, Pfizer, Novavax, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca.

“In creating a vaccine portfolio for Operation Warp Speed, the Trump Administration is increasing the likelihood that the United States will have at least one safe, effective vaccine by 2021,” said HHS Secretary Alex Azar. “Today’s investment represents the next step in supporting this vaccine candidate all the way from early development by Moderna and the National Institutes of Health, through clinical trials, and now large-scale manufacturing, with the potential to bring hundreds of millions of safe and effective doses to the American people.”

“We appreciate the confidence of the U.S. government in our mRNA vaccine platform and the continued support,” said Stéphane Bancel, Moderna’s Chief Executive Officer. “We are advancing the clinical development of mRNA-1273 with the ongoing Phase 3 study being conducted in collaboration with NIAID and BARDA. In parallel, we are scaling up our manufacturing capability with our strategic partners, Lonza, Catalent and Rovi, to address this global health emergency with a safe and effective vaccine.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA) and have not been compensated for this article.