On Jan. 17, 2025, The U.S. government announced it had awarded Moderna $590 million to advance the development of its bird flu vaccine, as the country doubles down on efforts to tackle increasing infections in humans.

This is in addition to $176 million awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) last year to complete the late-stage development and testing of a pre-pandemic mRNA-based vaccine against the H5N1 avian influenza.

The drug maker was preparing to advance its experimental shot, mRNA-1018, into late-stage trials based on preliminary data from an early-to-mid stage study and plans to present the data at an upcoming medical meeting.