The United States has secured 100 million more doses of the mRNA coronavirus vaccine by US pharmaceutical company Moderna, the developer said in a press release.
The US already purchased 100,000 doses of Moderna vaccine in July, securing the option of purchasing extra 300 million doses later. With the vaccination regimen requiring two doses per patient, the current total procurement is enough to cover 100 million citizens (the US population is slightly over 320 million).
"Moderna, Inc. ... today announced that the U.S. government has exercised its option to purchase an additional 100 million doses of mRNA-1273, Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine candidate, bringing its confirmed order commitment to 200 million doses," the company said in a press release.
Supplies of this second batch are expected to be delivered by April, while 20 million doses from the first batch will come in as early as the end of December -- all shipments are subject to the vaccine getting an emergency use authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration, according to the press release. The authorization is expected to be issued next week.
The company did not release the contract price, but according to US media, the government has allotted $4.1 billion on total purchases of the Moderna vaccine.
Moderna's candidate vaccine is underway with phase 3 clinical trials, involving an expanded pool of participants of different age and health condition. On November 30, the company released results of the vaccine's primary efficacy analysis indicating efficacy of 94.1 per cent.
Aside from the US, Moderna has vaccine supply contracts for over 390 million doses with such countries as Canada, Japan, Israel, Japan, Switzerland, Qatar and the United Kingdom, as well as the European Union.
