Moderna signs $2.1bn coronavirus vaccine deal with US

Moderna has agreed to provide the US government 100 million doses of its experimental coronavirus vaccine in exchange for more than $US1.5bn ($2.1bn).

Moderna has agreed to provide the US government 100 million doses of its experimental coronavirus vaccine in exchange for more than $US1.5bn ($2.1bn).

The drugmaker’s vaccine agreement is the latest with the US, which has already secured hundreds of millions of doses from other companies.

With the latest deal, the US has agreed to spend more than $US9bn for the shots. It has also invested in vaccine research and development, as well as supplies like vials and syringes.

The government will provide Moderna’s vaccine to people in the US free of charge and have the option to purchase up to an additional 400 million doses, according to Moderna.

“We appreciate the confidence of the US government in our mRNA vaccine platform and the continued support,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a statement.

The value of the agreement implies a price of about $US15 per dose, which appears to be lower than the price range of $US32 to $US37 per dose that Moderna said last week was part of small-supply government contracts.

Vaccines are seen by public health officials as the best way to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, yet their cost and price have emerged as important questions as they move forward in advanced stages of development.

“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,” US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said.

Moderna’s vaccine is among the most advanced in development. It is being evaluated in a 30,000-person late-stage study.

The vaccine, which is administered to patients in two doses, produced an immune response in the 45 healthy volunteers evaluated in an early-stage study and was generally safe, according to results published by the New England Journal of Medicine.