On Sept. 30, 2019, the University of Georgia (UGA) announced it had signed a contract with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for an initial award of $8 million to develop a new, more advanced influenza vaccine designed to protect against multiple strains of influenza virus in a single dose.

The total funding could be up to $130 million over seven years if all contract options were exercised. The university expected that over the seven-year contract span, the project will be the largest award ever received by the University of Georgia.