Shares of Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) are up 2.8% premarket Thursday after a report from The Financial Times said US government is closing in on an agreement with the company to help fund a late-stage trial of its mRNA pandemic bird flu vaccine.
The news comes as the US government aims to strengthen its pandemic jab stockpile with an H5N1 outbreak spreading through egg farms and among cattle herds.
Citing sources, the FT said federal funding from the government’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, known as Barda, could arrive as early as next month. The funding is expected to total several tens of millions of dollars.
In addition, the report states it could also come with a commitment to acquire doses if the phase-three trials are successful.
In addition, the publication says talks between the government and Pfizer regarding supporting its development of an mRNA vaccine targeting the H5 family of viruses are ongoing.