Overview

• The Department of Health and Human Services is reviewing a $590 million contract awarded to Moderna for the development of an mRNA-based bird flu vaccine.
• The contract, approved in the final days of the Biden administration, aimed to accelerate vaccine development against the H5N1 avian influenza strain.
• HHS, now led by vaccine-skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has raised concerns about oversight during the Biden administration and is reassessing vaccine production agreements.
• The review coincides with a broader government effort to evaluate spending on mRNA-based vaccines, which Moderna and Pfizer used for COVID-19 vaccines.
• Moderna, facing declining COVID-19 vaccine sales, had planned late-stage trials for the bird flu vaccine, but the funding uncertainty could delay progress.