By Michael Elkins
Biotech company Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) announced Friday that the United States government has secured 66 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine booster candidate, with the option to purchase an additional 234 million more. The booster targets the Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.
The contract includes an award of up to $1.74 billion for manufacturing and delivery.
"We are pleased to extend our successful collaboration with the U.S. government," said Stephane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna. "Moderna's mRNA platform is enabling us to rapidly create mRNA-1273.222, a bivalent vaccine that specifically targets Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, the most prevalent variants of concern in the U.S. today. We remain fully committed to leveraging our innovative technology platform to offer tailored vaccines that help protect communities against COVID-19."
Shares of Moderna are trading 3.6% higher in pre-open trading following the news but are down over 35% year-to-date.