In the past two years, H5 influenza virus subtypes have caused severe disease in birds and mammals in the United States. Because of various media reports, there is concern about the risk of these viruses spreading to humans, which could generate another pandemic.
On June 27, 2024, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed that the risk to people is very low. However, the U.S. government continues its multi-year effort to prepare for this risk.
Moderna, Inc. today announced a project award of $176 million to accelerate the development of mRNA-based pandemic influenza vaccines. The award program is within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The project award will support the late-stage development of an mRNA-based vaccine to enable the licensure of a pre-pandemic vaccine against the H5 influenza virus.
This new HHS agreement also includes additional options to prepare and accelerate responses to future public health threats.