Three days before President Donald Trump was sworn into office, the Department of Health and Human Services announced the award of $590 million to Moderna to accelerate the development of mRNA-based pandemic influenza vaccines.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The news was released Friday ahead of a change in administration and consideration of key healthcare appointments. Trump has nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead HHS, but no hearing has yet been scheduled on his selection and one is unlikely until the end of January, according to U.S. News & World Report.
It comes amid a report from The Washington Post on Tuesday that the Trump administration has instructed federal health agencies to pause all external communications, such as health advisories, weekly scientific reports, updates to websites and social media posts. The instructions were reportedly delivered Tuesday to staff at agencies inside HHS, including officials at the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and National Institutes of Health.
RFK Jr.'s hearing has been stalled as the Office of Government Ethics reportedly is considering Kennedy's financial disclosure forms and potential conflicts of interest, and senators weigh his conflicting stance on vaccines, according to the U.S. News report. Kennedy has said he "wouldn't take away anybody's vaccines" and has rejected claims that he's anti-vaccine, though he has claimed vaccines are linked to autism.
More than 15,000 physicians nationwide have signed a letter to the Senate urging members to reject Kennedy's nomination, according to the Committee to Protect Health Care.
"RFK Jr. has spent decades undermining public confidence in vaccines, spreading false claims and conspiracy theories, even going so far as comparing vaccination programs to Nazi Germany," the letter said.
In May 2021, RFK Jr. asked the federal government to revoke its authorization of all COVID-19 vaccines, according to ABCNews.
THE LARGER TREND
HHS intended the funds to be used to enhance mRNA platform capabilities so that the U.S. is better prepared to respond to other emerging infectious diseases.
Moderna has been a major provider of the COVID-19 vaccine. Moderna's influenza vaccine candidate uses conventional mRNA technology that was leveraged during the COVID-19 response, HHS said, resulting in one of the first two FDA-authorized, and later FDA-licensed, COVID-19 vaccines.
The HHS award was made through the Rapid Response Partnership Vehicle Consortium, with funding from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the HHS Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR).
This funding would allow Moderna to accelerate development of an H5N1 mRNA influenza vaccine that is well matched to strains currently circulating in cows and birds, and expands the clinical data supporting the use of mRNA vaccines that may be needed if other influenza strains emerge with pandemic potential, HHS said.
Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org