Moderna had been awarded more than $750 million to develop a vaccine against bird flu, which has been circulating in farm animals and sickening people, killing one.
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Despite a number of farmworkers catching bird flu across the U.S., experts say there’s low risk to the general public with a few exceptions.
The Trump administration has cancelled a contract awarded to Moderna for the late-stage development of its bird flu vaccine for humans, as well as the right to purchase shots, according to the drugmaker.
Moderna in January was awarded $590 million by the Biden administration to advance the development of its bird flu vaccine, and support the expansion of clinical studies for up to five additional subtypes of pandemic influenza
This was in addition to $176 million awarded by the Department of Health and Human Services last year to complete the late-stage development and testing of a pre-pandemic mRNA-based vaccine against the H5N1 avian influenza.
Moderna said it plans to explore alternatives for late-stage development and manufacturing of the vaccine.
Bird flu has been circulating worldwide since the 1990 and was first detected in American dairy farms in March 2024. It had infected 70 people as of late February, and killed one. The virus has not been shown to transmit from person to person, though scientists fear it could develop that ability.
The Trump administration also fired Food and Drug Administration employees responsible for managing the federal government’s response to bird flu, and paused its milk quality testing.