The vaccine candidate, mRNA-1273, will be manufactured while its clinical trials are underway. Moderna is developing the vaccine with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.
By securing the 100 million doses, the government is scaling up its vaccine portfolio for Operation Warp Speed, the White House task force to speed delivery of a safe and effective vaccine. The U.S. has the option to purchase 400 million more doses from Moderna.
“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,” HHS Secretary Alex Azar stated in a news release.
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