Moderna and Pfizer are each in the process of competing for federal contracts to build a national stockpile of mRNA vaccines targeted toward the new bird flu amid mounting concerns it may be spreading among humans.
Sources familiar with the discussions between the pharmaceutical giants and the Department of Health and Human Services report that the agency may agree to fund Moderna’s late-stage clinical trials of the bird flu vaccine to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.
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The H5N1 strain of bird flu, or the highly pathogenic avian influenza, has been a growing problem in North America since 2022, but the problem has substantially increased following the infection of cattle herds across nine states since March.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have also reported two cases of cow-to-human transmission of the virus affecting dairy workers in close contact with sick cattle.
HHS and the Department of Agriculture earlier this month announced that they were undertaking a joint effort to mitigate the effects of the outbreak among livestock and take precautions to prevent the advent of more human cases.
Last week, federal officials said that they were planning on moving ahead with plans to bolster traditional protein-based vaccine stockpiles for bird flu.
Moderna confirmed for the Washington Examiner that it is in discussions with the government about advancing its pandemic flu vaccine, with mid-stage clinical trial data expected soon.
The spokesperson for Moderna said that its H5 vaccines currently being tested “cover the same clade as the currently circulating variant in the United States.”
Pfizer also announced on Tuesday that the early-stage clinical trial of its mRNA bird flu vaccine is showing promising early results and that the new technology “could be leveraged rapidly” in the event of widespread human infection.
“Pfizer is encouraged by these early, preliminary results and, in the event of a request from health authorities, would be prepared to deploy the company’s capabilities to develop a vaccine for strategic stockpiles,” the company said in a press statement.
It is not clear whether the vaccine stockpile, if deployed, would be distributed en masse or if it would be targeted toward workers in the agriculture sector who are most at risk of contracting the disease.
Both companies have seen rises in stock prices following the outbreak of the bird flu epidemic among mammals. The market valuations for Pfizer and Moderna have substantially fallen from pandemic-era highs as urgency for the COVID-19 vaccines has waned.
Vaccination rates across the globe have markedly decreased following the COVID-19 pandemic and what the World Health Organization classifies as “vaccine fatigue.”
Much vaccine hesitancy is at least in part due to concerns over side effects of the COVID vaccines produced by Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca.
Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo called for healthcare providers in January to pause the use of all mRNA vaccines due to concerns about genetic contamination.
Ladapo, a longtime and continued critic of vaccine mandates and lockdown policies, cited early 2000s documents from the National Institutes of Health that hypothesized that effective mRNA vaccines could also be effective transmitters of contaminant DNA. The Food and Drug Administration has said that, while theoretical concerns along those lines were raised in the past, current data on the mRNA technology support the conclusion that the vaccines have a favorable benefit to risk profile.
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his running mate, Nichole Shanahan, have also both spoken harshly of mRNA vaccines, saying they are unsafe and “must be recalled immediately.”
Neither Pfizer nor Moderna offered a direct reply when asked by the Washington Examiner about rising vaccine hesitancy in the wake of the COVID pandemic and skepticism of mRNA technology.
“We remain committed to using our mRNA platform to respond to public health concerns,” the Moderna spokesperson said.
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Pfizer’s press release said that the company “believes the mRNA platform is well-suited to respond in a pandemic given the flexibility, versatility, and agility of the technology, as well as the speed at which constructs can be developed and rapidly manufactured.”
HHS did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.