MW Moderna's stock stumbles on report HHS is reviewing a $590 million bird-flu-vaccine award

By Ciara Linnane

Trump administration is reviewing a contract extended to Moderna in final days of the Biden administration, Bloomberg reported

Moderna Inc.'s stock tumbled 4% Thursday, after a report that health officials are reviewing a contract the company won from the Biden administration to support its efforts to develop a bird-flu vaccine.

The news was reported by Bloomberg late Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Moderna $(MRNA)$ won the $590 million contract in the final days of Biden's presidency to use its mRNA vaccine technology for a bird-flu vaccine.

The U.S. is currently in the midst of a bird-flu outbreak that has led to the culling of poultry flocks, has sent egg prices soaring and has infected cattle - along with several humans.

Read also: Egg prices are surging again. Why Powell and the Fed's grip on inflation may be slipping.

In early January, an individual in Louisiana who had been hospitalized with a severe infection died.

"While tragic, a death from H5N1 bird flu in the United States is not unexpected because of the known potential for infection with these viruses to cause severe illness and death," the CDC said at the time.

"While it is crucial that the U.S. Department and Health and Human Services support pandemic preparedness, four years of the Biden administration's failed oversight have made it necessary to review agreements for vaccine production," a spokesperson for HHS told Bloomberg in a written statement.

Moderna's mRNA technology was behind its COVID-19 vaccine, which was the company's first product to win Food and Drug Administration approval. The company has a second approved product, an mRNA vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5) viruses were detected in U.S. wild aquatic birds, commercial poultry and backyard or hobbyist flocks beginning in January 2022, according to a Jan. 7 report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those marked the first detections in the U.S. since 2016. In total, 130.7 million birds have been affected in all 50 states.

Meanwhile, there is no approved vaccine for bird flu in humans, although the national stockpile includes certain shots developed in the past and tested on volunteers. That's because there haven't been enough cases in the U.S. for a full clinical trial.

"Fortunately, current vaccine candidates neutralize the circulating strains in vitro, and these strains so far are susceptible to antiviral agents," said a December editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Moderna's stock has performed poorly since the world came out of the pandemic, and it's looking to its pipeline to revive its fortunes.

"In 2025, we remain focused on driving sales, delivering up to 10 product approvals through 2027, and expanding cost efficiencies across our business," Chief Executive Stéphane Bancel said in February, when the company released its fourth-quarter earnings.

On a call with analysts, Bancel said the 10 products represent a total addressable market of more than $30 billion. The company will also work on its cost structure to ensure it is break-even on a cash cost basis by no later than 2028, he said.

Moderna's stock has fallen 66.4% in the last 12 months, while the SPDR S&P Biotech exchange-traded fund XBI has fallen 13% and the S&P 500 SPX has gained 17.3%.

-Ciara Linnane

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 27, 2025 11:08 ET (16:08 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.