President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States government would buy 100 million doses of a candidate coronavirus vaccine from biotech company Moderna, which is currently undergoing clinical trials.
The government is spending $1.525 billion on this deal, which equates to about $15 according to the dosage.
Moderna said the government had the option to buy an additional 400 million doses in the long run as a component of the deal.
Moderna initiated complex human clinical trials with 30,000 volunteers at the end of July and said the effects could come in October.
The White House has reached agreements in recent months with other vaccine companies, Johnson added.
The United States has already donated $ 955 million for Moderna Studies to expand its vaccine through the Advanced Biomedical Research and Development Authority.
Moderna’s shares rose 11% hours after the announcement.
“For Operation Warp Speed, we are gathering a broad portfolio of vaccines to increase the chances of having at least one effective vaccine by the end of this year,” said HHS Secretary Alex Azar.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-T.X.) Criticized Moderna for promoting its vaccine to the government, even after the company obtained the federal budget for the vaccine’s development.
“For Moderna, the first billion just wasn’t enough. After being given more than $ 1 billion by American taxpayers to develop, test and manufacture a vaccine, Moderna gives us the privilege of purchasing the same vaccine that we have already paid for with an additional $ 1.525 billion and an option to pay. even more for more. dose. And there is no indication of how much Americans will end up paying for the vaccine they financed, “Doggett said in a message to Forbes.
The agreement is a component of Operation Warp Speed, a public-private component introduced through the federal government to expand and deliver vaccines as temporarily as possible.The concept of acquiring initial batches of vaccines that have not yet been approved through the FDA is that the military will be able to distribute doses as soon as a candidate gets the green light.According to the New York Times, 8 vaccines are being tested in phase three, adding a component between the German company BioNTech and Pfizer and a vaccine developed through the Anglo-Swedish company AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford.
While a vaccine may be effective early next year, Dr. Anthony Fauci said last month that he did not expect widespread availability with heaps of millions of doses until “several months” until 2021.
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I’m a San Francisco-based journalist, the latest news in Forbes.I have already reported for USA Today, Business Insider, The San Francisco Business Times and San Francisco
I am a San Francisco-based journalist covering the latest news at Forbes. In the past I have worked for USA Today, Business Insider, The San Francisco Business Times, and San Jose Inside. I studied journalism at the SINewhouse School of Public at Syracuse University. Communications and was editor of the Daily Orange, the university’s independent student newspaper. Follow me on Twitter @rachsandl or email me [email protected].