Advertisement

U.S. inks deal with Moderna for 100M doses of potential COVID-19 vaccine

Click to play video: 'Coronavirus: Trump says U.S. inks agreement with Moderna for 100M doses of COVID-19 vaccine candidate'
Coronavirus: Trump says U.S. inks agreement with Moderna for 100M doses of COVID-19 vaccine candidate
WATCH: Trump says U.S. inks agreement with Moderna for 100M doses of COVID-19 vaccine candidate – Aug 11, 2020

The United States has entered an agreement with drugmaker Moderna Inc to acquire 100 million doses of its potential COVID-19 vaccine for around $1.5 billion, the company and White House said on Tuesday.

The United States in recent weeks has made deals to acquire hundreds of millions of doses of potential COVID-19 vaccines from several companies as part of its Operation Warp Speed program, which aims to deliver a vaccine in the country by the end of the year.

Moderna’s price per dose comes to around $30.50 per person for a two dose regimen.

Click to play video: 'More American children testing positive for coronavirus'
More American children testing positive for coronavirus

With the exception of its deal with AstraZeneca, which offered a lower price per drug in exchange for upfront research and development costs, all the deals price COVID-19 vaccines between $20 to $42 for a two dose course of treatment.

Story continues below advertisement

Moderna’s vaccine candidate, mRNA-1273, is one of the few that have already advanced to the final stage of testing and is on track to be completed in September, the company said this month.

Click to play video: 'Russia approves first coronavirus vaccine, but scientists are skeptical'
Russia approves first coronavirus vaccine, but scientists are skeptical

Moderna’s deal with the U.S. only pays out in full if the drugmaker hits certain unspecific timing benchmarks for vaccine delivery.

Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.

Get weekly health news

Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

The United States has advanced purchase agreements with Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca Plc, Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE, and Sanofi SA and GlaxoSmithKline Plc for their respective vaccine candidates.

The agreements would lock in more than 500 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine for the U.S., assuming that the companies involved receive regulatory approval. Some deals also give the United States an option to purchase additional doses.

Story continues below advertisement

The U.S. government previously gave Moderna around $1 billion to fund its research efforts, bringing total U.S. funding to around $2.5 billion.

Other countries, including Japan, the United Kingdom and Canada, have forged similar deals with drugmakers.

Sponsored content

AdChoices