Moderna Expects Data Soon on Experimental Flu Vaccine
Moderna Expects Data Soon on Experimental Flu Vaccine
(Bloomberg) -- Moderna Inc. expects to have early data in hand on its flu vaccine in a matter of weeks, its chief executive said, as the biotechnology company looks to expand its products beyond its widely used Covid-19 shot.
“Flu is in the clinic. We’re going to get the data very soon,” Chief Executive Officer Stephane Bancel said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Friday.
Shares of Moderna were down 1.5% at 12:01 p.m. on Friday, and have declined nearly 10% over the past month after surging to huge gains earlier in the year.
Moderna has been criticized by some observers for not making its shots available to lower-income countries, but Bancel said Friday the company has taken steps to help increase access to its vaccine around the world.
Earlier, the company said in a statement that it had reached an agreement with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance to supply as many as 116.5 million doses of its Covid shot, to be delivered in the second quarter of next year. Gavi has the option to procure 233 million additional doses in 2022 for a potential total of 500 million doses between 2021 and 2022 under the agreement, the company said.
Bancel also said that it is possible that people over the age of 50 may need to get regular booster shots for Covid-19.
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