CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Moderna, Inc. (Nasdaq: MRNA), a biotechnology company pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines, today announced an amendment to its existing contract with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to accelerate supply of 20 million doses to COVAX by December 31, 2021 for a total of 54 million doses made available to COVAX in 2021. Deliveries to COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC) countries have already begun.
These doses are included in Moderna’s previously announced agreement with Gavi and were originally scheduled for delivery in the first quarter of 2022. Given the acceleration into 2021, Moderna expects to supply up to 96.5 million doses in the first quarter of 2022 and an additional 116.5 million doses in the second quarter of 2022. Gavi retains the option to procure 233 million additional doses in 2022 under the original agreement.
Moderna is also announcing a new supply agreement with Gavi for an additional 20 million doses for delivery in the second quarter of 2022 for a total of up to 136.5 million doses in the second quarter of 2022. Gavi retains options to purchase an additional 30 million doses in the second quarter of 2022 and an additional 100 million doses in the third quarter of 2022. Together, these two agreements allow Gavi to purchase up to 650 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for delivery through 2022.
“I would like to thank our partners at Gavi and COVAX for their work and collaboration to reach this agreement. This is another important milestone as we work to ensure that people around the world have access to our COVID-19 vaccine as quickly as possible,” said Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna. “We are proud that our agreement is the largest direct supply agreement with COVAX among U.S. authorized suppliers. We remain committed to implementing a comprehensive strategy to ensure that low-income countries get access to our vaccine as we seek to help end the pandemic around the world.”
The agreements cover the 92 Gavi COVAX AMC low- and middle-income countries. COVAX is a global initiative co-led by Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the World Health Organization (WHO), to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for all countries, regardless of income levels.
Additionally, Moderna recently announced an agreement that enables the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) countries to donate doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine that they have purchased under the EU Vaccines Strategy to COVAX on an ongoing basis for delivery in 2021. This initiative, led by France, Sweden, and Norway is expected to enable the donation of more than 70 million doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in 2021, including an initial donation of 15 million doses by France and 40 million doses by Germany. Dose sharing is an important pillar of Moderna’s comprehensive plan to bring vaccines to as many people as possible around the world.
About Moderna
In 10 years since its inception, Moderna has transformed from a science research-stage company advancing programs in the field of messenger RNA (mRNA), to an enterprise with a diverse clinical portfolio of vaccines and therapeutics across six modalities, a broad intellectual property portfolio in areas including mRNA and lipid nanoparticle formulation, and an integrated manufacturing plant that allows for both clinical and commercial production at scale and at unprecedented speed. Moderna maintains alliances with a broad range of domestic and overseas government and commercial collaborators, which has allowed for the pursuit of both groundbreaking science and rapid scaling of manufacturing. Most recently, Moderna’s capabilities have come together to allow the authorized use of one of the earliest and most-effective vaccines against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moderna’s mRNA platform builds on continuous advances in basic and applied mRNA science, delivery technology and manufacturing, and has allowed the development of therapeutics and vaccines for infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, cardiovascular diseases and autoimmune diseases. Moderna has been named a top biopharmaceutical employer by Science for the past seven years. To learn more, visit www.modernatx.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, including regarding: the Company’s development of a vaccine against COVID-19 (mRNA-1273); sales of mRNA-1273 to Gavi on behalf of COVAX and the timing for delivery of that supply; the potential for the exercise of options by Gavi/COVAX for additional purchases of mRNA-1273 in 2022; and the facilitation by the Company of deliveries by EU and EEA countries to COVAX. The forward-looking statements in this press release are neither promises nor guarantees, and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond Moderna’s control and which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties, and other factors include those other risks and uncertainties described under the heading “Risk Factors” in Moderna’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and in subsequent filings made by Moderna with the SEC, which are available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Except as required by law, Moderna disclaims any intention or responsibility for updating or revising any forward-looking statements contained in this press release in the event of new information, future developments or otherwise. These forward-looking statements are based on Moderna’s current expectations and speak only as of the date hereof.
