July 10, 2020 A photo shows vaccines in prefilled, single-use
syringes before the inspection and packaging phase at the French
pharmaceutical company Sanofi’s world distribution centre in Val de
Reuil, France. JOEL SAGET / AFP
President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a $1.5
billion contract with US biotech company Moderna for 100 million
doses of an eventual coronavirus vaccine, the sixth such deal
reached since May.
“I’m pleased to announce that we have reached an agreement with
Moderna to manufacture and deliver 100 million doses of their
coronavirus vaccine candidate,” Trump said at a White House news
conference. “The federal government will own these vaccine doses,
we’re buying them.”
“We’re on track to rapidly-produce 100 million doses as soon as
the vaccine is approved, and up to 500 million shortly thereafter,
so we’ll have 600 million doses,” he added.
Moderna, in partnership with the US National Institutes of
Health (NIH), is conducting Phase 3 clinical trials of a vaccine
candidate and manufacturing of vaccine doses will take place while
the trials are underway.
Sao Paulo State Government press office showing a volunteer
receiving the COVID-19 vaccine during the trial stage of the
vaccine produced by the Chinese company Sinovac Biotech at the
Hospital das Clinicas (HC) in Sao Paulo state, Brazil, on July 21,
2020. Handout / Sao Paulo State Government / AFP
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
The vaccine, called mRNA-1273, is being co-developed by Moderna
and the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
(NIAID), which is led by Dr Anthony Fauci.
Fauci has said researchers are unlikely to know the efficacy of
the vaccine before the end of the year at the earliest. But Trump
has said he hopes to have a vaccine before the November 3
presidential election.
The latest contract brings the US government’s total commitments
to Moderna to $2.48 billion.
The company, founded less than 10 years ago, has not previously
developed a vaccine of any kind but preliminary results of the
company’s experimental COVID-19 vaccine have reportedly produced
promising results.
Donald Trump speaks to the media as he departs for Walter Reed
National Military Medical Center from the White House on July 11,
2020 in Washington, DC. Joshua Roberts/Getty
Images/AFP
The Trump administration has allocated a total of at least $10.9
billion for the development and manufacturing of a coronavirus
vaccine.
It has already ordered 100 million vaccine doses from Johnson &
Johnson, Novavax, Pfizer and Sanofi and 300 million from
AstraZeneca.
AFP
Read more https://swordpress.com.ng/2020/08/12/trump-announces-sixth-vaccine-contract-for-100-million-doses/