Additional Coverage:
- As bird flu becomes a growing threat, Moderna is awarded $590M to develop mRNA pandemic influenza vaccines (newsbreak.com)
Bird flu, while not currently a major public health threat, has the potential to become a pandemic. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is taking this threat seriously, especially given the recent infections in people and the widespread impact on poultry and other animals.
HHS has awarded Moderna nearly $600 million to speed up the development of a bird flu vaccine. This builds on previous collaborations between the government and Moderna, including work on mRNA vaccines for influenza. Outgoing HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra stressed the importance of proactive vaccine development to stay ahead of potential outbreaks.
mRNA vaccines, relatively new technology, work differently than traditional vaccines. Instead of introducing a protein directly, mRNA vaccines instruct the body to create proteins that trigger an immune response.
This approach allows for faster development and adaptation to new virus variants. HHS hopes to strengthen its pandemic preparedness through investments in this technology.
Moderna has already conducted early trials of an mRNA-based bird flu vaccine with promising results. Further trials are planned to test the vaccine against different bird flu strains.
While a bird flu vaccine is in development, health officials emphasize the importance of the seasonal flu shot. Although it doesn’t directly protect against bird flu, it can reduce the risk of co-infection, which could lead to the emergence of new, potentially pandemic influenza strains. Current flu vaccination rates remain below 50% for both adults and children.