Shares of Moderna soares 9.5% when the biotech firm announced that the U.S. government has awarded it more than a half a billion dollars to develop a vaccine that can be used against bird flu.

The company said the $590 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was aimed at accelerating development of "mRNA-based pandemic influenza vaccines," including mRNA-1018.

Moderna explained that it began Phase 1/2 testing of mRNA-1018 in 2023 in healthy adults aged 18 and up, including candidates against the H5 and H7 avian influenza viruses. It noted that based on positive preliminary results, it was launching a Phase 3 study.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that bird flu "is widespread in wild birds worldwide and is causing outbreaks in poultry and U.S. dairy cows with several recent human cases in U.S. dairy and poultry workers." It noted that while the current public health risk is low, it is monitoring the situation carefully.