Modern‘s (NASDAQ: MRNA) The lucrative relationship with the United States government took another major step forward on Sunday. The Advanced Biomedical Research and Development Authority (BARDA) amended its contract with the biotechnology company in the clinical stage for an additional commitment of up to $ 472 million.
In April, BARDA agreed to a commitment of up to $ 483 million to support the advancement of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine candidate, mRNA-1273, from phase 1 trials through the FDA license. The total value of the award was increased to $ 955 million to support a phase 3 trial of 30,000 people, which is much more participants than originally intended.
Tomorrow, July 27, volunteers in the phase 3 COVE study will randomly start receiving two injections of mRNA-1273 spaced 29 days apart, or a placebo. The researchers will primarily measure the first occurrences of COVID-19, with two long years of observations beginning 14 days after the participants receive their second dose.
In addition to running a giant phase 3 test, Moderna is also manufacturing large quantities of at-risk mRNA-1273. With the help of a collaboration with Lonza (OTC: LZAG.Y), the company is on track to start delivering between 500 million and one billion doses annually in 2021.
The Moderna vaccine candidate will be one of the first to start a phase 3 trial in the US, almost a month after Oxford University began testing AZD1222 in a study of 5,000 volunteers in collaboration with AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN). While we have seen results from dozens of patients treated with mRNA-1273, AstraZeneca and Oxford recently published the results of a phase 1 trial with 1,077 randomized to receive AZD1222 or a placebo.