US inks $1.5bil deal for 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine

(Reuters) – The United States has entered an agreement with drugmaker Moderna Inc to acquire 100 million doses of its potential COVID-19 vaccine for around US$1.5 billion, the company and White House said on Tuesday.

The United States in recent weeks has made deals to acquire hundreds of millions of doses of potential COVID-19 vaccines from several companies as part of its Operation Warp Speed program, which aims to deliver a vaccine in the country by the end of the year.

Moderna’s price per dose comes out to around $30.50 per person for a two dose regimen. That is broadly in line with other deals that the United States has penned with drugmakers for potential vaccines.

Moderna’s vaccine candidate, mRNA-1273, is one of the few that have already advanced to the final stage of testing. The study, which aims to include 30,000 people, is on track to be completed in September, the company said this month.

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